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Girolamo  Savonarola 

A  Prophet  of  Righteousness 


'By 
WILLIAM   H.  CRAWFORD 

President  Allegheny  College 


CINCINNATI:    JENNINGS  AND   GRAHAM 
NEW   YORK:    EATON    AND    MAINS 


COPYRIGHT,  1907,   BY 
JENNINGS  AND  GRAHAM 


"fPe  'will  praise  the  hero-priest  .  .  .  'who 
'wears  out,  in  toil,  calumny,  contradiction,  a  noble 
life,  to  make  a  God's  Kingdom  of  this  earth.  The 
earth  'will  not  become  too  godlike.1'  — Carlyle. 


PREFACE 


IT  was  some  years  ago  that  I  began  the  serious 
study  of  the  life  and  character  of  Savonarola. 
Since  then  I  have  been  on  the  alert  to  read  what- 
ever would  throw  light  on  the  man,  or  show  more 
clearly  the  meaning  and  value  of  his  work.  In 
the  present  volume  no  attempt  has  been  made  at 
comprehensive  biographical  study.  This  would 
have  required  much  more  space  than  has  been 
placed  at  my  disposal.  It  has  been  my  purpose 
rather,  keeping  in  mind  the  general  aim  of  the  se- 
ries of  which  this  volume  is  a  part,  to  show  what 
Savonarola  was  as  a  man,  and  what  he  did  as  a 
true  prophet  of  righteousness.  In  doing  this,  I 
have  described  the  times  in  which  he  lived  and  the 
men  with  whom  he  associated  only  so  far  as  was 
necessary  to  make  clear  the  meaning  of  what  he 
spoke  and  what  he  wrought. 

While  recognizing  that  Savonarola  had  his  lim- 
itations, decided  limitations  at  some  points,  as  will 
appear  in  the  description  of  what  he  did  or  failed 
to  do  in  important  crises,  I  conceive  of  him  as  a 
man  of  unusually  strong  and  striking  personality; 
a  man  of  scholarly  abilities  and  attainments;  a 
statesman  of  no  mean  order;  a  man  of  marked 
qualities  of  leadership;  a  rare  spiritual  nature;  but 

5 


6  PREFACE. 

above  all  a  great  Christian  hero,  a  man  of  God;  a 
strong,  brave,  fearless  prophet  of  righteousness. 
The  story  of  his  life  and  work  is  here  presented 
with  the  hope  that  the  reader  may  find  in  it  new 
courage  for  the  work  to  which  God  has  called  him. 

Like  all  others  who  have  written  on  this  theme 
within  the  past  quarter  of  a  century,  I  must  con- 
fess my  indebtedness  to  the  monumental  work  of 
Pasquale  Villari,  from  which  I  have  taken  most 
of  the  extracts  of  sermons  and  letters  which  ap- 
pear throughout  the  volume,  though  in  many  in- 
stances these  have  been  carefully  verified.  It  will 
be  noticed  that  I  have  quoted  frequently,  and  some- 
times at  length,  from  the  sermons  and  other  writ- 
ings of  Savonarola.  This  has  been  done  with  a 
purpose.  The  biography  which  means  most  to  me 
personally  is  the  one  in  which  I  hear  the  man's  own 
voice,  or  read  the  words  he  himself  penned.  I  am 
taking  it  for  granted  that  my  readers  are  like  me 
in  this  respect.  So 'instead  of  describing  what  Sa- 
vonarola said,  I  have,  whenever  possible,  let  him 
say  it. 

To  guard  against  a  one-sided  or  partisan  pre- 
sentation of  the  man  and  his  work,  the  writings  of 
his  detractors,  both  Catholic  and  Protestant,  have 
been  examined  as  carefully  as  the  writings  of  his 
most  extravagant  eulogists.  Earnest  and  faithful 
attempt  has  been  made  to  describe  the  man  as  he 
was.  To  the  best  of  my  strength,  honestly  and 
impartially,  though  it  must  be  confessed  sympathet- 
ically, I  have  endeavored  to  present  in  the  follow- 
ing pages  the  real  Savonarola. 

It  may  be  asked  if  Savonarola  might  not  have 


PREPACK.  7 

saved  himself  from  death  if  he  had  not  been  so 
uncompromising?  Certainly.  So  might  Socrates 
have  saved  himself  from  the  hemlock,  and  the  Man 
of  Nazareth  from  the  cross.  But  there  are  some 
things  morally  impossible.  No  man  could  be  as 
great  and  powerful  a  personality  as  Savonarola 
was  and  cry  out  against  the  frightful  evils  of  his 
time  as  he  did  without  going  to  his  death.  The 
conflict  between  Savonarola  and  Pope  Alexander 
VI  was  an  irreconcilable  one.  W.  H.  C. 

,  PA.,  February  5,  1907. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.    THE  TIMES  IN  WHICH  HE  LIVED,  -       n 

II.    EARLY  LIFE  AND  EDUCATION,  -  19 

III.  IN  THE  MONASTERY  OF  BOLOGNA,  -       33 

IV.  EARLY  DAYS  IN  SAN  MARCO,    -  45 
V.    IN  THE  VILLAGES  OF  TUSCANY,     -  -       52 

VI.    LORENZO  AND  His  CITY,  63 

VII.    A  NEW  VOICE  IN  THE  DUOMO,       -  -       76 

VIII.    THE  MIGHTIEST  MAN  OF  FLORENCE,  .  -  88 

IX.    STARTLING  EVENTS  AND  STRIKING 

VISIONS,  -     101 

X.    REFORMS  BEGIN  IN  THE  MONASTERY 

OF  SAN  MARCO,  113 

XI.    CHARLES  VIII  OF  FRANCE  INVADES 

ITALY,   -  -     132 

XII.    THE  PREACHER  AND  THE  NEW  CON- 
STITUTION, 150 

XIII.    JESUS  KING  OF  FLORENCE,   -  -     159 
9 


io  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XIV.    LETTERS,  PLOTS,  AND  PAPAL  BRIEFS,  165 

XV.    THE  BURNING  OF  THE  VANITIES,      -  184 

XVI.    THE  POPE  ISSUES  EDICT  OF  EXCOM- 
MUNICATION, -                                    -  204 

XVII.    THE  STRUGGLE  WITH  ROME  GOES  ON,  219 

XVIII.    THE  TRAGIC  END,  235 

XIX.    INFLUENCE  ON  LATER  TIMES,    -  254 


Girolamo  Savonarola 

CHAPTER   L 
THE  TIMES  IN  WHICH  HE  LIVED. 


traveler  who  visits  Florence  will  not  linger 
long  in  gray  palaces  and  renowned  picture  gal- 
leries before  turning  his  face  towards  the  mon- 
astery of  San  Marco.  The  Brothers  of  St. 
Dominic,  former  inhabitants  of  the  place,  are  no 
longer  there.  Our  new  Italy,  the  Italy  of  Gari- 
baldi, Cavour,  and  Victor  Immanuel,  has  little  use 
for  monks.  The  monastery,  confiscated  by  the 
State,  is  now  preserved  as  a  national  monument 
and  guarded  by  Italian  police. 

There  is  much  of  interest  in  this  old  monastery. 
It  was  built  for  the  Dominicans  by  a  wealthy 
banker  of  Florence,  Cosimo  de'  Medici.  Its  library 
has  the  proud  distinction  of  being  the  first  public 
library  founded  in  Italy.  Its  chapter-house  has 
been  forever  consecrated  by  George  Eliot  as  the 
place  where  Romola  met  her  dying  brother  and 
heard  for  the  first  time  a  voice  she  dared  not 
resist.  Entering  the  gate  and  walking  in  the 
cloister  garden,  or  wandering  through  the  empty 
cells  of  the  monks,  one  can  not  help  thinking  of 


12  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

the  men  who  have  made  this  monastery  so  famous. 
First  in  the  list  is  Fra  Angelico.  From  entrance 
to  farthest  cell  the  lofty  and  pure  soul  of  this 
Christian  painter  seems  to  hover  near  in  the  charm- 
ing frescoes  which  are  such  beautiful  expression 
of  profound  and  devout  piety.  Then  comes  An- 
gelico's  friend  Antonino,  known  as  the  holy  bishop. 
A  cell  to  the  right  on  entering  the  corridor,  marks 
the  place  of  his  devotions  and  tells  of  his  kindly 
deeds.  Farther  on  are  the  productions  of  another 
master  of  the  brush.  Bartolomeo  has  honorable 
place  among  the  few  whose  spirits  still  linger  in 
San  Marco.  But  of  all  the  men  who  have  given 
name  and  fame  to  this  monastery,  the  most  con- 
spicuous is  Girolamo  Savonarola.  His  cell  is  at 
the  farthest  end  of  the  corridor.  To  many  it  is 
both  oratory  and  sacred  shrine.  Hanging  on  the 
wall  are  his  rosary  and  fragments  of  his  robe  and 
girdle;  on  a  desk,  near  the  small  window  over- 
looking the  convent  garden,  are  manuscripts  of  his 
sermons  and  a  well-thumbed  annotated  Bible ;  there 
is  the  chair  in  which  he  sat,  and  above  the  desk 
the  large  wooden  crucifix  so  often  held  aloft  while 
Florence  yielded  to  the  influence  of  her  great 
preacher. 

Going  out  from  San  Marco  and  walking 
through  the  streets  of  Florence  one  may  see  on  all 
sides  historic  memorials  of  the  city's  distinguished 
sons.  There  in  a  narrow  street  is  the  house  of 
Michael  Angelo.  In  Medici  sepulcher  and  na- 
tional museum  are  masterpieces  of  his  chisel; 
yonder  on  San  Miniato  is  his  fortress ;  in  Santa 
Croce  is  his  tomb.  The  old  home  of  Dante  is  still 


TIMES  IN  WHICH  HE  LIVED.  13 

open  to  visitors.  A  stone  slab  marks  the  spot  where 
often,  with  expectation,  he  watched  for  his  Beatrice ; 
and  proud  monuments  in  church  and  open  square 
do  honor  to  this  great  Italian  poet.  The  Medici 
have  their  buildings  and  tombs,  paintings,  manu- 
scripts and  gems,  to  tell  of  their  power  and  wealth. 
But  among  all  the  men  of  note  in  Florentine  his- 
tory there  is  no  more  striking  figure  than  Savon- 
arola. 

The  critics  do  not  yet  come  into  perfect  agree- 
ment when  they  try  to  sum  up  the  elements  of  his 
character  and  point  out  the  influence  of  his  life. 
But  for  that  matter  the  critics  never  come  into 
perfect  agreement  as  to  anything.  When  they 
shall  stop  trying  to  find  in  this  man  a  leader  for 
some  party,  a  prophet  for  some  political  achieve- 
ment, an  advocate  for  Protestantism,  or  a  true  son 
for  Catholicism ;  when  they  shall  stop  trying  to 
narrow  the  man  and  let  him  be  as  large  as  God 
made  him;  when  we  shall  study  him  with  our 
prejudices  shaken  off,  and  try  to  find  out  about 
him  simply  the  truth,  then  it  will  be  that  Savonarola 
will  come  to  his  true  place  in  history.  In  doctrine 
he  was  a  Roman  Catholic,  in  his  warfare  against 
a  corrupt  papacy  a  Protestant,  in  his  reformation 
of  public  morals  a  Puritan,  in  his  advocacy  of  the 
rights  of  the  poor  a  Democrat.  But  no  one  of 
these  can  claim  all  the  man.  Poet  and  preacher, 
statesman  and  reformer,  theologian  and  martyr, 
he  must  forever  rank,  not  only  as  one  of  the  most 
illustrious  makers  of  Florence,  but  as  one  of  the 
illustrious  makers  of  European  history. 

No  need  to  go  into  unfrequented  corners  to 


14  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

find  his  memorials.  There  is  hardly  a  street  in 
Florence  which  does  not  remind  one  of  him.  Out 
from  San  Marco  stood  his  wooden  pulpit.  The 
Riccardi  palace  on  the  Via  Cavour  tells  how  he  and 
Capponi  saved  Florence  from  the  fury  of  Charles 
VIII,  King  of  France.,  The  Duomo,  in  all  its 
arches  and  in  the  immensity  of  its  mighty  dome, 
is  still  re-echoing  the  strains  of  his  rare  and 
commanding  eloquence.  The  gray  stones  of  the 
Palazzo  Vecchio  have  voice  to  declare  his  valiant 
achievements  and  heroic  fortitude.  The  Piazza 
Signoria,  crowded  at  eventide,  still  speaks  of  ex- 
cited multitudes — men,  women,  and  children — who 
saw  there  the  triumph,  and  saw  also  the  humilia- 
tion, of  the  man  who  exerted  larger  influence  upon 
Florence  in  his  day  than  any  other  single  man  in 
all  her  history.  The  presence  of  Savonarola  in 
Florence  is  pervasive. 

But  this  twentieth  century  Florence  is  altogether 
too  modern  to  furnish  a  background  for  the  life 
and  character  of  Savonarola.  It  has  too  many 
railroads,  smacks  too  much  of  the  telegraph  and 
the  telephone;  they  have  bicycles  there  now  and 
automobiles.  If  we  would  see  the  real  Savonarola 
we  must  give  play  to  our  historic  imagination  and 
put  ourselves,  if  we  can,  in  the  times  in  which  he 
lived  and  breathe  the  spirit  of  his  surroundings; 
we  must  turn  back  the  pages  in  our  book  of  his- 
tory more  than  four  hundred  years  till  we  come  to 
the  year  of  our  Lord  1452.  This  is  the  year  in 
which  Savonarola  was  born.  Forty-six  years  later 
he  suffered  martyrdom  in  Florence  and  his  ashes 
were  flung  into  the  Arno.  Born  in  Ferrara,  two 


TIMES  IN  WHICH  HE  LIVED.  15 

years  after  the  half  century  had  begun,  his  life 
was  cut  short  two  years  before  the  half  century 
ended. 

Here  is  an  age  which  challenges  attention  and 
commands  thought.  The  half  century  covered  by 
the  life  of  Savonarola  was  full  of  prophetic  events. 
It  was  in  this  half  century  that  printing  was  in- 
vented, the  foe  of  tyranny  and  enemy  of  supersti- 
tion; ignorance  must  hide  her  face,  freedom  has  a 
new  friend,  and  conscience  an  emancipator.  It 
was  in  this  half  century  that  Constantinople  was 
taken  by  the  Turks ;  this  meant  for  Italy  the  com- 
ing in  of  great  scholars  from  the  East  with  wealth 
of  ancient  manuscripts  and  precious  gems.  It 
was  in  this  half  century  that  the  arm  of  Ferdinand 
broke  the  power  of  the  Moors  in  Granada  and 
drove  the  Saracens  from  most  Catholic  Spain.  It 
was  in  this  half  century  that  Christopher  Columbus 
of  Genoa  set  sail  to  find  a  new  passage  to  the 
Indies,  but  found  in  its  stead  the  path  to  a  new 
continent.  It  was  in  this  same  half  century  that 
away  to  the  north  in  the  town  of  Eisleben  in  Sax- 
ony Martin  Luther  was  born;  in  the  next  half 
century  this  Saxon  lad,  grown  to  be  monk,  doctor, 
and  reformer,  will  shake  the  world;  and  give  to 
European  civilization  such  an  impetus  for  liberty 
and  progressive  ideas  that  her  nations  shall  sit 
supreme  among  all  the  peoples  of  the  earth.  The 
last  half  of  the  fifteenth  century  was  an  age  of 
transition.  The  soul  of  the  new  was  struggling  to 
break  away  from  the  traditions  of  the  old. 

The  intellectual  life  of  Italy  was  rejoicing  in 
all  the  glories  of  the  Renaissance.  The  study  of 


1 6  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

the  humanities  was  everywhere  hailed  with  enthu- 
siasm. The  classics  commanded  all  the  thought  of 
those  who  laid  any  claim  to  scholarship.  Greek 
art  and  architecture,  language  and  literature,  were 
everywhere  praised,  in  the  halls  of  the  great  uni- 
versities and  in  the  palaces  of  the  nobility.  But 
all  this  belonged  only  to  the  few.  The  masses  were 
sunk  in  ignorance  and  superstition.  The  free 
school  and  suffrage  were  centuries  in  the  future. 

The  political  situation  was  about  as  bad  as 
could  be  imagined.  The  empire  had  sunk  to  its 
lowest  point.  Rome  was  the  center,  but  only  in 
name;  the  emperor  was  little  more  than  German 
king.  Italy  groaned  under  the  misrule  of  petty 
tyrants.  The  race  of  real  princes  seemed  to  be 
dead.  Degenerate  sons,  familiar  only  with  the 
luxurious  ease  of  profligate  courts,  knew  not  how 
to  govern  themselves,  much  less  the  people.  It 
was  an  opportunity  for  war,  and  on  all  sides  war's 
dread  presence  brought  terror  and  destruction. 
Even  from  beyond  the  Alps  were  heard  mutter- 
ings  of  its  approach.  Conspiracy,  too,  lifted  her 
head  in  Milan,  in  Genoa,  in  Pavia;  but  her  most 
frightful  atrocities  were  in  Florence.  Liberty  was 
dead.  The  rights  of  the  individual  were  unpro- 
tected. 

This  was  an  age  when  the  garments  of  the 
Church  were  defiled  until  they  became  a  stench  in 
the  nostrils  of  purity.  The  tiara  itself  was  bespat- 
tered with  blood.  The  Chief  Bishop  of  Christen- 
dom seemed  to  be  serving  two  masters.  "The 
popes  of  the  Renaissance,"  says  Dr.  Schaff,  "were 
the  successors  of  Maecenas  rather  than  St.  Peter." 


TIMES  IN  WHICH  HE  LIVED.  17 

They  were  intolerant  of  open  heresy,  but  not 
always  of  open  immorality.  Pius  II,  renowned 
as  a  scholar,  shielded  illegitimate  offspring  by  a 
frivolous  appeal  to  David  and  Solomon.  Sixtus 
IV,  famous  until  now  as  the  great  cathedral  builder, 
was  a  shameless  promoter  of  nepotism  and  legal- 
ized prostitution  to  increase  the  revenues  of  the 
papal  court.^  Innocent  VIII,  surrounded  in  the 
Vatican  by  bastard  sons  and  daughters,  established 
a  bank  for  the  sale  of  pardons.  Each  sin  had  its 
price.  Roderigo  Borgia,  a  Spaniard  by  birth ;  law- 
yer, soldier,  cardinal,  and  finally  pope,  closed  the 
century  under  the  title  Alexander  VI.  To  this 
man  belongs  the  bad  pre-eminence  of  being  the 
worst  pope  that  ever  sat  in  St.  Peter's  chair. 
There  is  no  quarrel  between  Catholics  and  Prot- 
estants as  to  the  character  of  Roderigo  Borgia.  A 
recent  Catholic  historian  says:  "The  clearest  proof 
that  the  Catholic  Church  is  divine  is  the  fact  that 
such  a  Pontiff  as  Alexander  VI  could  not  destroy 
it."  His  ambition,  avarice,  and  sensuality  were 
simply  notorious  in  his  own  day.  With  money  he 
purchased  the  votes  of  the  cardinals  who  made 
him  pope.  Simony  he  could  not  rebuke  when  it 
ministered  to  his  unholy  ambition.  In  Rome  men 
said,  "Alexander  sells  the  keys,  he  sells  the  altars, 
he  sells  Jesus  Christ."  When  there  was  no  papal 
emissary  there  to  hear,  the  answer  was,  "Well,  he 
bought  them,  so  he  has  a  right  to  sell  them."  The 
Vatican  was  converted  into  an  Oriental  harem.  The 
name  of  Alexander's  daughter  Lucretia  has  been 
written,  whether  justly  or  unjustly,  in  the  shame- 
less list  with  the  Jezebels  and  Lady  Macbeths  of 


1 8  GiROivAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

the  centuries.  His  son  Cesare  so  played  with  the 
poisoned  cup  and  the  stiletto  that  Rome  became 
a  slaughter-house.  This  Cesare,  incarnation  of 
crime,  Alexander  promoted  to  highest  ecclesias- 
tical honors.  No  wonder  the  title  "His  Holiness" 
passed  into  a  byword  of  reproach.  The  sins  of  the 
Vatican  were  also  the  sins  of  the  priests.  If  money 
purchased  the  papacy  for  a  Borgia,  it  also  pur- 
chased heaven  for  the  rake  and  the  murderer.  The 
servants  of  the  altar  were  often  the  parasites  of 
princely  courts  and  the  slaves  of  licentiousness. 
The  cloisters,  too,  were  tainted  with  corruption. 
The  vows  of  poverty  and  chastity  few  pretended 
to  keep.  If  the  thirteenth  century  needed  such  men 
as  Francis  of  Assisi  and  St.  Dominic  to  rise 
and  cry  out  against  the  abuses  of  the  monastery, 
the  fifteenth  century  needed  them  much  more.  All 
classes  seemed  to  have  caught  the  sordid  and  licen- 
tious spirit  of  the  age.  Italy  was  on  the  fatal 
slope  which  led  to  her  ruin.  Christianity  was  every- 
where brought  into  derision  and  contempt.  Such 
were  the  times  in  Italy  in  the  last  half  of  the  fif- 
teenth century.  It  was  in  the  Borgian  era  that 
Savonarola  was  called  to  play  his  part  in  the  drama 
of  history. 


CHAPTER  II. 
EARLY  LIFE  AND  EDUCATION. 

THE  name  Savonarola  was  not  unknown  in 
Northern  Italy.  The  first  of  the  line  of  whom  we 
have  knowledge  was  one  Antonio,  a  native  of 
Padua,  who  in  the  thirteenth  century  fought  so 
valiantly  in  defense  of  his  city  that  one  of  her  gates 
was  named  in  his  honor,  and  to  this  day  it  is  called 
Porta  Savonarola.  The  Reformer's  grandfather, 
Michele  Savonarola,  had  left  the  ancestral  Paduan 
home  at  the  urgent  invitation  of  the  Duke  of  Fer- 
rara,  Niccolo  III,  of  the  house  of  Este.  This  house 
of  Este  was  one  of  the  few  great  ruling  houses  of 
Northern  Italy.  It  almost  rivaled  the  Medici  in  its 
patronage  of  art,  literature,  and  the  sciences.  No 
pains  were  spared  to  attract  distinguished  men  to 
its  court.  It  was  to  the  court  of  Ferrara,  one 
favorable  to  learning  and  art,  that  Michele  Savon- 
arola was  invited  in  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth 
century.  Eminent  physician,  man  of  letters,  and 
distinguished  lecturer,  he  added  luster  to  the  bril- 
liant company  to  which  he  came. 

The  name  had  at  least  two  centuries  of  fairly 
honorable  history  before  the  subject  of  this  sketch, 
the  noblest  Savonarola  of  them  all,  was  presented 
by  his  father  for  holy  baptism  in  the  Church  of 
Santa  Maria  del  Vaio.  His  father  Niccolo  was  a 
man  of  little  worth,  a  hanger-on  of  the  court.  He 

19 


20  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

studied  medicine  some,  but  seems  to  have  failed 
to-  make  good  in  anything  except  appearing  well 
at  court  functions.  The  mother  was  totally  differ- 
ent. Like  Augustine,  Gregory,  and  Constantine, 
Savonarola  had  a  mother  who  was  a  woman  of 
strong  mind  and  noble  character.  Her  name  was 
Elena,  daughter  of  the  illustrious  house  of  Bona- 
cossi  of  Mantua.  It  is  an  accepted  saying  that 
great  men  have  usually  had  remarkable  mothers. 
Savonarola  was  no  exception.  His  mother  was  a 
woman  of  fine  intellect,  rare  culture,  and  almost 
masculine  strength  of  character.  She  was  ever 
held  in  tenderest  affection  by  her  illustrious  son. 
It  is  significant  of  Savonarola's  fine  spirit  and 
real  greatness  that  he  always  treated  his  father 
with  respect.  He  gave  him  all  the  honor  which 
would  have  been  due  him  from  a  devoted  son  had 
he  been  one  of  the  noblest  citizens  of  Ferrara;  but 
it  was  to  his  mother  that  he  gave  his  heart's  affec- 
tion. His  love  for  her  was  beautiful  and  tender 
during  his  entire  life.  It  was  to  her  that  he  opened 
his  heart  in  the  dark  days  of  trial  when  the  city 
of  Florence  was  beginning  to  turn  against  him, 
and  when  he  saw  ahead  only  the  triumph  of  wicked 
enemies  and  a  tragic  death.  To  this  Niccolo  and 
Elena  were  born  five  sons  and  two  daughters. 
Girolamo  was  the  third  of  the  sons.  He  was  born 
on  St.  Matthew's  Day,  September  21,  1452.  His 
baptismal  name  was  Girolamo  Marco  Francesco 
Matteo. 

Many  stories  have  gathered  about  the  child- 
hood of  Savonarola,  but  few  of  them  are  thought 
to  have  any  foundation  in  fact.  The  one  distin- 


EARLY  LIFE  AND  EDUCATION.  21 

guishing  mark  of  his  youth  was  his  seriousness. 
He  was  not  pretty,  so  we  are  told,  or  playful;  he 
coveted  quiet  and  his  mood  was  usually  that  of  re- 
serve. Silent  and  solitary,  he  was  often  seen  walk- 
ing in  green  fields  or  wandering  by  the  banks  of 
the  river  Po.  He  had  one  great  friend  and  teacher 
to  whom  he  owed  much,  his  grandfather.  "With 
the  patience  and  simple  directness  gained  by  long 
years  and  experience  this  wise  old  scientist,"  says 
Villari,  "devoted  himself  to  the  development  of  his 
grandson's  intellect,  the  careful  unfolding  of  its 
budding  thoughts  and  ideas.  Such  a  training  was 
undoubtedly  the  best  of  schools;  and  the  boy  soon 
rewarded  his  grandsire's  devotion  by  showing  a 
true  passion  for  study.  So  great  was  his  ardor 
for  books  that  even  those  beyond  his  comprehen- 
sion were  eagerly  seized  upon  and  ransacked  for 
hidden  treasures."  Perhaps  the  early  biographers 
may  put  it  a  little  too  strongly  when  they  describe 
him,  even  while  a  mere  lad,  as  endowed  with  "mar- 
velous love  of  truth"  and  a  "charm  which  seemed 
to  carry  towards  truth  by  its  own  nature,"  but 
there  is  good  evidence  that  he  was  a  youth  of 
much  more  than  usual  promise. 

The  affection  of  Michele  Savonarola  for  this 
grandson  is  rare  and  beautiful;  but  unfortunately 
the  devoted  teacher  died  when  his  pupil  had  hardly 
reached  his  teens.  It  had  long  been  expected  that 
Girolamo  would  perpetuate  the  reputation  of  the 
family  by  taking  up  the  profession  of  his  grand- 
father. Aristotle  and  Thomas  Aquinas  were  in 
those  days  considered  indispensable  as  a  prepara- 
tion for  the  study  of  medicine.  These  authors  our 


22  GlROLAMO    SAVONAROLA. 

young  medical  student  seems  to  have  read  with 
great  eargerness.  The  study  of  their  writings  did 
much  to  give  direction  to  his  later  life.  In  Aris- 
totle he  laid  broad  and  deep  foundations  for  his 
intellectual  development;  in  Thomas  Aquinas  he 
prepared  the  way  for  future  theological  studies  and 
for  his  career  in  monastery  and  pulpit.  Both  mas- 
ters he  studied  with  great  earnestness,  and  both 
affected  mightily  his  future  life.  Plato  he  studied 
later,  but  Aristotle  and  Thomas  Aquinas  were  the 
two  books,  apart  from  the  Bible,  which  made  the 
man. 

Modern  Ferrara  gives  little  conception  of  the 
Ferrara  of  the  fifteenth  century  in  which  Savon- 
arola carried  on  his  medical  studies.  The  modern 
city  shows  here  and  there  marks  of  former  mag- 
nificence. The  cathedral  and  the  ducal  palace 
tell  of  glory  and  greatness  long  gone.  The  broad 
deserted  streets  are  now  grass  grown ;  bastions, 
towers,  ancient  walls,  and  moldy  palaces  suggest 
a  grandeur  belonging  to  another  age.  Signs  of 
decay  are  everywhere.  All  that  the  traveler  sees 
in  churches,  palaces,  and  other  public  buildings, 
tells  of  a  golden  age  of  long  ago.  The  population 
of  the  present  city  is  about  thirty  thousand.  The 
population  of  the  former  city,  made  glorious  by  the 
house  of  Este,  was  one  hundred  thousand.  The 
city  was  prosperous,  too.  Commercially  and  polit- 
ically it  was  at  this  time  one  of  the  famous  cities  of 
Italy.  Here  came  noble  princes  as  guests;  em- 
perors also  came,  and  even  popes.  Festivities  were 
almost  perpetual.  Shows  and  carnivals  followed 
each  other  in  quick  succession.  The  splendor  of 


EARI,Y  LIFE  AND  EDUCATION.  23 

the  city  and  court  was  at  its  height  during  the 
youth  of  Savonarola. 

The  names  of  two  of  the  Dukes  of  Ferrara 
ought  to  be  remembered:  Niccolo  III,  who  in- 
vited Michele  Savonarola  to  the  court  of  Este,  and 
Borso,  who  succeeded  to  the  dukedom  in  1450  and 
ruled  until  1471.  Niccolo  built  strong  the  founda- 
tions of  his  house  which  was  to  be  resplendent  as  a 
center  of  learning  and  art.  By  overcoming  all  the 
lords  of  surrounding  strongholds,  he  became  abso- 
lute in  his  power  in  the  province  and  in  the  city. 
He  improved  the  years  of  peace  by  enriching  the 
cathedral,  building  churches,  palaces,  and  other 
stately  edifices.  At  his  death  he  was  succeeded 
by  a  natural ,  son,  Lionello,  who  reigned  for  nine 
years,  when  Borso,  another  natural  son,  came  to 
the  throne.  These  were  two  of  the  "bastard 
princes"  who  made  Italy  notorious  in  the  fifteenth 
century.  The  times  in  which  they  ruled  were  not 
favorable  to  the  peaceful  occupany  of  a  place  of 
power.  Milan  was  in  revolt;  Venice  was  jealous; 
on  all  sides  was  war.  But  Ferrara,  how  it  hap- 
pened is  not  altogether  clear  even  yet,  was  known 
as  "the  land  of  peace."  Lionello  has  this  to  his 
credit  that  he  was  the  friend  of  scholars  and  pro- 
tected sculptors  and  poets,  Guarino  being  one ;  he 
composed  Latin  orations  and  Italian  sonnets;  he 
founded  the  famous  Este  Museum,  and  was  largely 
responsible  for  the  prosperity  of  the  university. 
Dazzling  luxury  marked  his  reign,  and  stories  of 
the  brilliant  festivities  he  directed  were  told  far 
and  near. 

In  the  display  and  magnificence  of  his  court 


24  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

functions  Lionello  was  tame  in  comparison  with 
Borso,  who  came  after  him.  This  Borso  was  not  a 
model  prince  though  he  did  have  some  good  quali- 
ties. He  loved  justice,  so  it  is  said,  and  caused  it 
to  be  constantly  observed,  when  it  did  not  clash 
with  his  own  personal  interests.  But  better  than 
justice  itself,  he  loved  the  title  which  was  usually 
conferred  upon  him,  "The  Just."  More  than  any 
other  ruler  in  Northern  Italy,  Borso  reminds  one 
of  Lorenzo  the  Magnificent  of  Florence.  The  bril- 
liancy of  his  court,  his  patronage  of  learning,  his 
political  pretensions  and  ambitions,  his  utter  dis- 
regard of  the  liberties  of  the  people  whom  he  gov- 
erned, all  mark  him  as  a  fine  prototype  of  Lorenzo. 
"As  Lord  of  Ferrara,"  says  Villari,  "he  was  lavish 
in  hospitality  to  all,  he  had  a  rare  collection  of 
manuscripts  and  antiquities,  was  always  seen 
dressed  in  gold  brocade,  and  the  richest  stuff  in 
Italy  was  worn  at  his  court.  He  had  the  finest 
falcons,  horses,  and  dogs  that  had  ever  been  seen; 
he  was  even  famous  for  the  excellence  of  his  buf- 
foons ;  descriptions  of  his  State  entertainments 
were  frequently  circulated  throughout  the  whole 
of  Italy." 

In  1452,  the  year  of  Savonarola's  birth, -Ferrara 
was  visited  by  the  Emperor  Frederick  III.  He  was 
on  his  way  to  receive  the  imperial  crown  at  the 
hands  of  the  pope.  His  retinue  comprised  two  thou- 
sand men.  Borso,  so  we  are  told,  rode  forth  to 
meet  him,  attended  by  all  his  nobles  and  clergy,  and 
for  ten  successive  days  gave  tournaments,  concerts, 
and  balls  in  his  honor.  On  the  emperor's  return 
from  Rome  these  festivities  were  renewed,  and  on  a 


EARLY  LitfE  AND  EDUCATION.  25 

still  grander  scale.  The  emperor  was  now  received 
on  a  magnificently  decorated  platform  in  the  Piazza. 
in  all  the  gorgeous  trappings  of  imperial  display, 
and  wearing  the  imperial  crown.  Borso,  hardly 
less  gorgeously  attired,  presented  himself  to  the 
emperor  to  receive  the  ducal  title  he  had  so  ear- 
nestly coveted.  After  the  fashion  of  a  people  with- 
out liberty  and  caugjit  in  the  toils  of  a  richly  bro- 
caded despotism,  men  on  all  sides  shouted,  "The 
duke!  The  duke!  Long  live  Duke  Borso!" 

This  display  Savonarola  did  not  see,  but  he  did 
look  upon  pageants  far  more  imposing  and  magni- 
ficent. After  the  fall  of  Constantinople  in  1453, 
the  increasing  power  of  the  Turk  caused  much 
anxiety  in  Northern  Italy.  There  was  almost  uni- 
versal call  for  a  new  crusade.  But  there  was  no 
one  to  gather  up  the  yearnings  of  the  people  and 
give  them  expression  in  action.  There  was  no 
Peter  the  Hermit,  no  Bernard  of  Clairvaux.  Noth- 
ing was  done  until  1458,  when  Pope  Pius  II,  newly 
come  to  the  chair  of  St.  Peter,  summoned  a  coun- 
cil at  Mantua,  and  called  the  Christian  powers  to 
act  in  a  holy  war  against  the  great  Infidel.  In 
journeying  from  Rome  to  Mantua,  Pius  II  visited 
Ferrara.  He  came  with  retinue  the  like  of  which 
had  never  been  seen  in  the  city  of  the  house  of 
Este.  In  this  retinue  were  ten  cardinals,  sixty 
bishops,  and  many  secular  princes.  The  pope  en- 
tered Ferrara  under  a  canopy  of  gold.  The  streets 
were  covered  with  cloth  or  strewn  with  flowers ; 
rich  tapestries  and  gay  festival  decorations  hung 
from  the  windows,  and  the  city  was  filled  with 
shoutings,  songs,  and  music.  Stately  ceremonies 


26  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

in  the  cathedral  gave  welcome  to  the  Pontiff,  and 
festivities  truly  royal  detained  him  many  days. 

The  council  at  Mantua  was  long  remembered 
for  the  eloquent  speeches  delivered.  Nothing  was 
done,  however,  for  the  crusade.  But  the  failure 
of  a  Church  council  could  not  check  the  enthu- 
siasm of  the  festival-loving  people  of  Ferrara.  On 
the  pope's  return  journey  to  Rome  he  halted  again 
at  Ferrara  where  he  was  welcomed  and  feted  more 
royally  than  before.  Even  pagan  divinities,  it  is 
said,  were  set  up  in  his  honor.  The  glory  of  these 
receptions  must  have  been  long  discussed  and  often 
in  the  hearing  of  the  youthful  Savonarola. 

The  gay  court  to  which  his  family  was  at- 
tached possessed  no  attractions  for  Girolamo  Sa- 
vonarola. Only  once,  it  is  said,  did  he  ever  enter 
the  splendid  castle  of  the  duke.  The  festivities  and 
frivolities  were  not  to  his  liking.  His  keen  eye, 
true  as  well  as  keen,  was  beginning  to  see  beneath 
the  surface.  It  has  been  suggested  that  the  castle 
itself,  that  grim,  quadrangular  building  with  its 
four  massive  towers,  must  have  seemed  typical  of 
the  social  life  of  Ferrara.  The  subterranean  dun- 
geons of  the  castle  were  full  of  immured  victims. 
The  clanking  of  chains  and  the  groans  of  human 
beings  in  pain  could  be  heard  from  their  depths. 
Above  were  strains  of  music  and  ceaseless  revelry ; 
the  ringing  of  silver  plate,  the  clatter  of  majolica 
dishes,  and  the  clinking  of  Venetian  glass.  Anguish 
groaned  beneath  the  songs  of  revelry.  All  was 
brilliant  without,  but  Savonarola  saw,  with  that 
keen  and  true  eye  of  his,  that  all  this  brilliancy  was 
only  the  flush  of  humanity's  fever.  The  brilliance 


EARLY  LIFE  AND  EDUCATION.  27 

was  the  brilliance  of  disease.  The  shows  and  car- 
nivals, which  dazzled  the  people  and  held  them  in 
strange  fascination,  were  to  him  only  "the  ring- 
ing of  silver  plate  and  the  clinking  of  Venetian 
glass."  The  fruits  of  tyranny  which  he  saw,  in 
ignorance,  in  vice,  and  in  superstition ;  in  lost  lib- 
erties and  throttled  life,  these  were  "the  clanking 
of  chains  and  the  groans  of  human  beings  in  pain." 
He  felt  that  justice  was  dethroned.  In  a  poem  on 
the  ruin  of  the  world  he  cried  out  in  the  bitterness 
of  passion: 

"  Happy  henceforth  he  who  by  rapine  lives, 

He  who  on  the  blood  of  others  swells  and  feeds ; 
Who  widows  robs  and  from  his  children's  needs 
Takes  tribute ;  and  the  poor  to  ruin  drives." 

There  were  a  few  brief  days  when  the  young 
Girolamo  saw  a  brighter  side  to  life.  A  Strozzi 
girl,  whose  family  had  been  exiled  from  Florence, 
lived  near  his  home.  She  was  a  girl  of  dark  hair 
and  rich  black  eyes,  so  the  chroniclers  say.  An  ar- 
dent affection  for  this  fair  exile  soon  gave  Savon- 
arola to  feel  the  music  and  freshness  of  a  new 
hope.  The  world  took  on  a  new  meaning  and 
beauty.  He  saw  all  now  through  the  eyes  of  tender 
love.  But  when  he  declared  his  affection  he  was 
repulsed  with  haughty  disdain.  "No  Strozzi,"  said 
she,  "may  stoop  to  wed  a  Savonarola."  Pierced 
as  by  a  rapier  thrust,  he  flung  back  at  her  a  cruel 
fact  concerning  a  stain  on  her  birth.  Perhaps  he 
repented  afterwards.  We  do  not  know.  But  his 
dream  world  was  suddenly  shattered.  The  old  and 
serious  thoughts  came  back.  Contempt  for  the 


28  GiRoivAMo  SAVONAROLA. 

world,  horror  at  the  misery  he  saw,  increasing  in- 
terest in  Aquinas,  and  finally,  a  single  word  in  the 
sermon  of  an  Augustinian  monk,  led  him  to  re- 
nounce his  profession  and  forsake  his  home  to 
enter  a  monastery.  The  "single  word"  was  spo- 
ken at  Faenza  in  1474,  by  a  wicked  monk,  but  the 
word  stuck.  What  it  was  he  never  told.  What- 
ever it  was,  it  marked  the  beginning  of  a  new  plan 
for  his  life.  He  could  no  longer  find  liberty  or 
peace  in  the  world,  he  would  seek  it  in  the  Church. 
This  ought  to  be  marked  as  a  crisis  in  his  life; 
perhaps  the  crisis.  John  Chrysostom  did  not  enter 
the  cloister  of  Diodorus,  or  Martin  Luther  ap- 
proach the  gates  of  Erfurt,  with  higher  aim  or 
nobler  purpose,  than  did  Savonarola  offer  himself 
to  the  Brothers  of  St.  Dominic  in  Bologna. 

On  an  April  morning,  in  all  the  strength  of 
his  young  manhood,  he  sat  with  his  mother  for 
the  last  time  in  the  old  home.  It  was  just  a  year 
since  his  decision  to  enter  a  monastery.  For 
twelve  months  he  had  been  struggling  against  the 
breaking  of  home  ties.  Playing  upon  his  lute  he 
sang  in  such  sad  strain  that  his  mother  stopped 
him :  "My  son,  this  is  a  token  of  separation."  With 
faltering  touch  he  continued  to  finger  the  strings, 
but  into  his  mother's  face  he  dared  not  look.  He 
felt  that  she  knew  his  secret.  On  the  morrow 
when  Ferrara  was  wild  with  festivities  in  honor 
of  St.  George,  he  ran  away  from  his  home.  He 
fled  from  his  profession,  his  friends,  and  all  the 
preferment  open  to  him  in  the  court  of  Ferrara; 
and  before  the  sun  had  set  on  Lombard  hills,  he 
was  clad  in  the  white  robe  of  a  Dominican  novice. 


AND  EDUCATION.  29 

On  the  morning  after  arriving  in  Bologna,  he 
wrote  a  letter  to  his  father,  describing  in  full  the 
reasons  which  led  him  to  forsake  his  home  to 
enter  a  monastery.  The  letter  was  earnest  and 
affectionate.  In  it  he  called  attention  to  a  paper 
on  "Contempt  for  the  World,"  left  behind  some 
books  on  his  desk,  which  was,  in  a  sense,  a  defense 
of  his  action.  This  paper,  discovered  about  a  gen- 
eration ago,  has  written  on  it  the  following  words 
by  Savonarola's  father:  "I  remember  how,  on  the 
24th  of  April,  which  was  St.  George's  day  in  1475, 
Girolamo  my  son,  student  in  arts,  departed  from 
his  home  and  went  to  Bologna,  and  entered  among 
the  Brothers  of  St.  Dominic  in  order  to  become  a 
brother;  and  left  me,  me  Niccolo  della  Savonarola, 
his  father,  these  underwritten  consolations  and  ex- 
hortations for  my  satisfaction." 

This  brief  document  affords  clear  proof  that 
Savonarola  saw,  and  with  clear  vision,  the  woes 
about  to  come  upon  Italy,  and  saw  also  that  in 
some  way  he  was  to  be  a  special  messenger  of 
God  to  warn  the  people  of  these  woes.  "Not  one," 
so  a  paragraph  in  the  document  reads,  "not  a  single 
righteous  man  is  left.  It  behooves  us  to  learn  from 
babes  and  women  of  low  estate,  for  in  these  only 
doth  there  yet  linger  any  shadow  of  innocence. 
The  good  are  oppressed  and  the  people  of  Italy 
become  like  unto  the  Egyptians  who  held  God's 
people  in  bondage.  But  already  famine,  flood, 
pestilence,  and  many  other  signs,  betoken  future 
ill  and  herald  the  wrath  of  God.  Divide,  O  Lord, 
divide  once  again  the  waters  of  the  Red  Sea,  and 
let  the  impious  perish  in  the  flood  of  Thy  wrath." 


30  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

The  letter  to  his  father  may  be  regarded  as  an 
apology  for  his  apparently  unfilial  act.  "I  wish 
you,"  he  writes,  "as  a  true  man,  and  one  who  de- 
spises fleeting  things,  to  be  influenced  by  truth, 
and  not  by  passion  like  women,  and  to  judge,  under 
the  dominion  of  reason,  whether  I  am  right  in 
fleeing  from  the  world."  He  then  speaks  of  the 
evils  of  the  age  described  in  the  paper  on  "Con- 
tempt of  the  World,"  and  explains  and  defends 
his  action  in  leaving  home.  "Instead  of  weeping," 
he  says,  "you  have  rather  to  thank  the  Lord  Jesus 
who  has  given  you  a  son,  and  then  has  preserved 
him  to  you  for  twenty-two  years;  and  not  only 
this,  but  besides  has  designed  to  make  him  His 
knight-militant.  Ah !  do  you  not  regard  it  as  a 
great  grace  to  have  a  son  a  knight  of  Jesus  Christ  ? 
But,  to  speak  shortly,  either  it  is  true  that  you  love 
me,  or  it  is  not  true.  I  know  well  that  you  will 
not  say  you  do  not  love  me.  If  then  you  love  me, 
since  I  have  two  parts,  that  is,  the  soul  and  the 
body,  do  you  love  most  the  soul  or  the  body?  You 
can  not  say  the  body,  because  you  would  not  love 
me  if  you  loved  the  baser  part  of  me.  If  then  you 
love  the  soul  best,  why  should  you  not  seek  the 
good  of  the  soul?  Therefore,  you  ought  to  re- 
joice, and  to  regard  this  as  a  triumph.  Do  you 
believe  that  it  is  not  a  great  grief  for  me  to  be 
separated  from  you?" 

Mrs.  Oliphant,  in  criticizing  this  letter,  points 
out  that  such  pleas  have  been  repeated  from  the 
beginning  of  the  world,  and  will  be  to  its  end, 
whenever  a  good  and  loving  child  obeys  a  personal 
impulse  which  is  contrary  to  filial  duty,  but  not  to 


EARLY  LIFE  AND  EDUCATION.  31 

filial  tenderness.  Perhaps  a  truer  criticism  would 
be  to  suggest  that  in  this  case,  as  in  many  others, 
personal  conviction  as  to  duty  often  comes  into 
sharp  conflict  with  filial  affection.  Influenced  by 
deep  and  strong  conviction,  there  was  only  one 
thing  for  Savonarola  to  do.  "Believe  me,"  he 
writes,  "that  never  since  I  was  born  have  I  had  a 
greater  grief  nor  a  greater  affliction  of  mind,  than 
seeing  myself  abandon  my  own  blood,  and  go 
among  people  unknown,  in  order  to  make  a  sacri- 
fice to  Jesus  Christ  of  my  body,  and  to  sell  my  will 
into  the  hands  of  those  whom  I  never  knew."  This 
letter  is  addressed  to  "The  noble  and  excellent  man, 
Niccolo  Savonarola,  the  best  of  parents." 

What  effect  this  letter  may  have  had  we  can 
only  imagine.  It  undoubtedly  brought  quick  reply 
from  his  fond  mother.  There  is  a  second  letter, 
but  without  date,  in  which  the  young  monk  ex- 
presses great  regret  that  his  father  and  mother 
should  reproach  him  or  complain  of  his  decision. 
This  letter  begins,  "Why  do  ye  weep,  blind  ones? 
Why  do  ye  complain  so  much?  If  our  temporal 
prince  had  called  me  now  to  girt  a  sword  on  my 
side  in  the  midst  of  the  people,  and  to  make  me 
one  of  his  knights,  what  joy  you  would  have  expe- 
rienced! And  if  I  had  then  repudiated  such  an 
honor,  would  you  not  have  thought  me  a  fool? 
And  now  the  Prince  of  princes,  He  who  is  of 
infinite  power,  calls  me  with  a  loud  voice,  even 
prays  me  (O  great  love!)  with  a  thousand  tears, 
to  girt  a  sword  on  my  side,  of  the  finest  gold  and 
precious  stones,  and  wishes  to  place  me  among 
the  number  of  His  knights  militant!  And  now, 


32  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

because  I  have  not  refused  so  great  honor,  although 
I  am  unworthy  (and  who  would  refuse  it?), — be- 
cause I,  giving  thanks  to  so  great  a  Lord,  since 
He  thus  wills,  have  accepted  it, — you  will  afflict 
me,  when  you  ought  to  rejoice  and  give  thanks ; 
and  the  more  you  do  so,  the  more  you  show  that 
you  love  me." 

The  reference  in  the  above  letter  to  the  call 
to  knighthood  by  the  temporal  prince,  meaning  the 
duke,  was  undoubtedly  to  remind  his  parents  of 
their  joy  that  his  oldest  brother,  Ognibene,  had 
entered  the  army.  Ognibene's  decision  had  led  to 
no  complaint  on  their  part.  They  praised  him 
rather.  The  young  monk  would  persuade  them 
that  their  joy  in  his  own  decision  ought  to  be 
greater.  This  letter  seems  to  have  had  the  desired 
effect.  Both  parents  recognized  that  his  decision 
was  unalterable.  His  was  the  stronger  will,  and 
there  was  left  nothing  for  them  but  to  be  resigned. 
For  Savonarola,  the  new  life  he  had  chosen  was 
all  before  him  and  untried.  He  threw  himself  into 
it  with  decision,  strength,  and  enthusiasm. 


CHAPTER  III. 
IN  THE  MONASTERY  OF  BOLOGNA. 

THE  life  in  Bologna  was  full  of  eager  study  and 
earnest  thought.  Worn  with  fasting,  his  clothing 
the  coarsest,  Savonarola  showed  a  marked  ability 
which  soon  led  to  his  appointment  as  instructor  of 
the  novices. 

This  was  not  at  all  according  to  the  program 
he  had  laid  out.  He  had  come  to  the  monastery 
praying  that  he  might  be  employed  in  the  humblest 
and  most  menial  duties  of  the  brotherhood.  Gladly 
would  he  become  simply  a  convent  drudge  if  he 
might  thus  do  penance  for  his  sins !  Long  after- 
wards he  told  his  intimate  friend  and  biographer, 
Pico  della  Mirandola,  that  when  he  entered  the 
convent  in  Bologna,  he  had  not  purposed  to  take 
holy  orders,  nor  have  anything  to  do  with  his 
favorite  philosophical  studies.  His  sole  purpose 
was  to  ask  for  the  privilege  of  manual  labor.  His 
thought  was  to  work  in  the  garden,  make  clothes 
for  the  brothers,  and  do  other  work  of  like  char- 
acter. He  had  no  desire  to  "merely  change  from 
an  Aristotle  of  the  world  to  an  Aristotle  of  the 
cloister."  Two  things  he  wanted — peace  and  lib- 
erty. For  these  he  had  come  to  the  convent.  It 
was,  therefore,  a  grief  instead  of  a  joy  when  he 
was  commanded  by  his  superior  to  instruct  the 
novices  in  physics  and  philosophy.  But  remem- 
3  33 


34  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

bering  his  three-fold  vow — poverty,  chastity,  obe- 
dience— there  was  only  one  thing  for  him  to  do — 
obey.  That  he  did. 

The  monastery  was  not  all  that  Savonarola  had 
hoped  for.  Its  solitude  did  bring  peace  and  lib- 
erty, but  the  quiet  of  cloistered  surroundings  did 
not  blind  him  to  frightful  corruptions  and  abuses. 
At  times  his  soul  was  roused  to  fury  as  he  thought 
of  the  dreadful  havoc  wrought  by  princes  of  the 
Church.  Costly  buildings,  processions,  and  festi- 
vals did  not  concern  him ;  he  was  striving  after  the 
purity  of  the  inner  life  of  the  soul.  An  ardent 
student  of  the  Bible,  he  knew  it  almost  by  heart, 
from  Genesis  to  Revelation.  In  his  early  as  well 
as  in  his  later  study  of  the  Bible,  Savonarola  was 
particularly  impressed  with  the  bold  and  striking 
imagery  of  the  prophets  and  Revelation.  John 
Knox  in  his  little  room  over  High  Street  in  Edin- 
burgh, did  not  study  his  Bible  more  earnestly  and 
faithfully  than  did  Savonarola  in  his  cell  near  the 
shrine  of  St.  Dominic. 

Perhaps  the  most  significant  event  during  the 
seven  years  spent  in  this  monastery,  was  the  dis- 
covery that  the  corruption  which  he  had  seen 
blighting  the  world  was  also  blasting  the  Church. 
The  -foul  atmosphere  of  the  court  and  the  rabble 
had  touched  also  the  priests  and  monks.  It  was 
in  Ferrara  that  he  wrote  his  poem  on  "The  Ruin 
of  the  World."  In  Bologna  he  wrote  a  new  poem. 
Its  title  was,  "The  Ruin  of  the  Church."  In  his 
poetic  vision  the  Church  was  represented  as  a 
chaste  and  venerable  virgin.  Burning  to  speak 
with  her,  he  asks,  "Where  is  the  light  of  early 


IN  THE  MONASTERY  OF  BOLOGNA.  35 

days?  Where  are  the  ancient  saints?  Where  is 
the  learning,  love,  and  purity  of  olden  times  ?  Tak- 
ing him  by  the  hand  the  virgin  leads  him  to  a 
poor  cave  where  she  dwells.  She  shows  him  her 
beautiful  body  "disfigured  with  the  wine  red  finger 
marks  of  evil."  "Who  hath  done  this?"  he  asks. 
The  Church  replies,  "A  false,  proud,  harlot;  Rome 
hath  done  it."  Then  it  was  that  the  fiery  indigna- 
tion of  the  future  prophet  broke  forth  in  strongest 
passion,  "O  God,  lady,  that  I  might  break  those 
spreading  zt'ings !" 

In  Morley's  life  of  William  Ewart  Gladstone, 
particular  attention  is  called  to  an  entry  which 
Gladstone  made  in  his  diary  while  a  student  in 
Oxford  University.  The  entry  was  this:  "The 
great  end  is  that  the  love  of  God  may  become  the 
habit  of  my  soul,  and  particularly  these  things  are 
to  be  sought:  The  gift  of  love,  of  self-sacrifice,  of 
purity,  of  energy."  This  entry  Mr.  John  Morley 
describes  as  the  biographic  clew  to  Gladstone's  life. 
It  was  the  working  out  of  the  resolution  expressed 
in  the  words  written  in  the  diary  which  made  Glad- 
stone the  man  he  was.  Mr.  Morley  was  exceed- 
ingly happy  in  seizing  upon  the  true  biographic 
clew  to  the  future  greatness  and  Christian  states- 
manship of  Gladstone.  In  seeking  to  find  a 
biographic  clew  to  the  life  of  Girolamo  Savonarola, 
the  careful  student  of  his  character  and  achieve- 
ments is  almost  irresistibly  drawn  to  the  words 
quoted  above,  "O  God,  lady,  that  I  might  break 
those  spreading  wings."  During  all  his  life  from 
Bologna  on,  his  one  great  purpose  was  this,  to 
"break  the  spreading  wings"  of  papal  corruption 


36  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

•>. 

then  blighting  and  blasting  the  Church.  In  this 
poem,  we  see  the  first  stragglings  of  a  mighty  spirit 
which  shall  yet  cause  an  unworthy  occupant  of 
Peter's  chair  to  tremble  for  his  security. 

The  reigning  pontiff  during  the  seven  years  of 
Savonarola's  residence  in  Bologna  was  Sixtus  IV. 
This  pope  was  described  in  the  opening  chapter  as 
"a  shameless  promoter  of  nepotism,"  and  a  man 
who  "legalized  prostitution  to  increase  the  revenues 
of  his  papal  court."  If  the  political  situation  in 
Italy  was  bad,  and  it  was  bad,  there  was  nothing 
in  the  leadership  of  the  Church  to  make  it  better. 
Rome  was  impotent.  No  wonder  such  a  condition 
of  affairs  roused  the  righteous  wrath  of  the  young 
monk.  He  could  not  help  seeing  that  the  scan- 
dalous lust  of  Sixtus  knew  no  bounds.  His  five 
nephews  were  all  singled  out  for  high  honors. 
One  was  made  Prefect  of  Rome,  another  a  cardi- 
nal, the  third  suddenly  acquired  much  gold  and 
married  a  princess,  the  fourth,  a  particular  favorite 
of  the  pope,  the  notorious  Riario,  was  elevated 
from  simple  friar  to  cardinal  prelate,  with  title  San 
Sisto.  And  he  had  further  honors  in  being  made 
Patriarch  of  Constantinople  and  Archbishop  of 
Florence.  Dashing,  unscrupulous,  and  ambitious, 
this  ecclesiastical  spendthrift  reveled  in  such 
unusual  luxury  of  living  that  he  rivaled  even  the 
most  dissolute  of  Italian  princes.  This,  too,  in  an 
age  when  the  gross  dissoluteness  of  Italian  princes 
was  notorious. 

The  name  of  this  Riario  was  well  known  in 
Ferrara.  Stories  of  his  hospitality  (hospitality  of 
doubtful  propriety  it  was,  too)  to  the  Princess 


•  IN  THE  MONASTERY  OF  BOLOGNA.  37 

Elenora  of  Aragon  when  in  Rome,  were  public 
property  in  the  city.  It  was  known  also  that  none 
of  these  excesses  seemed  to  change  in  the  least  the 
affection  of  Sixtus  for  his  favorite  nephew.  The 
character  of  this  pope  and  the  unholy  doings  of  his 
gay  nephew,  whose  sins  even  a  cardinal's  robes 
could  not  hide,  were  known  and  scorned  by  the 
young  Savonarola. 

The  general  degradation  politically  which  made 
possible  such  open  scandal  in  the  Church,  has  been 
accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  whereas  former 
rulers  had  fought  their  way  to  power  over  the 
heads  of  their  enemies,  their  sons,  born  in  ease 
and  reared  in  palaces,  were  only  trained  to  the 
luxuries  of  life.  Such  conditions  were  favorable 
to  war;  not  great  war,  but  petty  war.  Plots  and 
conspiracies  were  frequent.  One  of  the  worst  con- 
spiracies of  the  time,  that  of  the  Pazzi  in  Florence, 
is  so  suggestive  of  political  and  ecclesiastical  con- 
ditions, that  it  perhaps  ought  to  be  told  just  here. 
The  name  of  the  Medici  has  already  been  referred 
to.  The  house  was  the  most  powerful  in  Florence, 
and  for  half  a  century  they  were  absolute  masters 
of  the  city.  One  member  of  this  house,  Lorenzo 
de'  Medici,  familiarly  known  as  Lorenzo  the  Mag- 
nificent, will  stand  out  as  one  of  the  two  most 
conspicuous  figures  in  the  background  of  the  pic- 
ture of  Savonarola  and  his  times.  The  Pazzi  were 
also  a  noble  family  of  Florence.  They  were  re- 
lated to  the  Medici,  but  jealous  of  them.  Their 
name  has  been  given  to  a  plot  made  against  the 
life  of  Lorenzo  and  his  brother  Giuliano.  They 
were  not  the  prime  movers  in  the  plot,  but  they 


38  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

were  active  in  it.  It  has  been  charged  that  the 
instigator  of  the  conspiracy  was  no  less  a  person- 
age than  Pope  Sixtus  himself.  The  charge  is 
probably  without  foundation,  but  it  is  certain  that 
his  beautiful  nephew,  the  gay  Riario,  had  a  hand 
in  the  plans,  and  that  Salviati,  Archbishop  of  Pisa, 
was  an  active  participant.  The  plan  was  to  as- 
sassinate the  two  brothers  at  once  on  a  given 
Sunday,  and  during  mass,  in  the  cathedral.  Mon- 
tesecco,  a  soldier  of  some  reputation,  was  hired  to 
do  the  deed;  but  when  he  found  what  place  they 
had  fixed  upon  for  the  killing  his  courage  failed. 
He  was  ready  to  commit  murder,  but  would  not 
bring  upon  himself  the  guilt  of  sacrilege  in  addi- 
tion. The  conspirators  had  to  find  other  instru- 
ments. Two  priests  finally  consented.  Why  not? 
Were  they  not  asked  by  princes  of  the  Church? 
And  were  not  the  liberties  of  the  people  to  be  re- 
stored when  the  enemy  was  dead?  Had  not  Riario 
and  Salviati  promised  it?  And  did  they  not  truly 
represent  the  Head  of  the  Church?  The  signal 
agreed  upon  was  the  ringing  of  the  bell  which 
announced  the  elevation  of  the  host.  One  priest 
did  his  work  well.  Giuliano  fell  dead  at  the  first 
thrust  or  two  of  the  knife.  Lorenzo  escaped.  He 
was  wounded,  but  drawing  his  sword  fought  his 
way  bravely  to  the  sacristy.  The  conspirators  then 
sought  to  rouse  the  populace.  The  populace  was 
ready  and  rose  up,  but  not  in  defense  of  the  Pazzi. 
That  very  day,  and  within  a  few  hours  after  the 
bloody  celebration  of  the  mass,  the  Archbishop  of 
Pisa  was  hung  from  a  window  of  the  Riccardi 
palace,  his  ecclesiastical  robes  still  on,  and  beside 


IN  THE  MONASTERY  OF  BOLOGNA.  39 

him  hung  the  lifeless  form  of  one  of  the  Pazzi. 
Others  of  the  conspirators  were  quickly  hunted  out 
and  slain.  Not  much  care  was  taken  to  identify 
them  either.  The  important  thing  was  to  do  enough 
killing  to  give  the  impression  that  the  conspirators 
were  thoroughly  punished. 

The  purpose  of  this  conspiracy  was  supremacy. 
The  most  extraordinary  feature  about  the  affair 
was  the  rank  of  the  principals.  If  Pope  Sixtus 
did  not  promote  the  conspiracy  he  certainly  did 
not  try  to  prevent  it.  His  pet  nephew  would  have 
profited  had  it  succeeded.  No  wonder  the  pope 
was  angry  when  he  heard  how  the  plot  had  failed. 
It  is  said  that  he  broke  forth  in  fierce  threats  and 
anathemas ;  not  against  the  assassins,  but  against 
Lorenzo  and  the  people  of  his  city.  He  suspended 
the  bishops  and  clergy  of  Florence  from  the  exer- 
cise of  all  spiritual  functions.  And  this  was  in 
the  open !  Men  knew  about  it  and  talked  about  it. 

What  of  Savonarola?  Did  he  see  clearly  the 
meaning  of  it  all?  Three  years  before,  the  har- 
lotry of  Rome  had  so  stirred  his  soul  that  he  cried 
out,  "O  God,  lady,  that  I  might  break  those  spread- 
ing wings !"  How  these  later  happenings  must 
have  roused  his  righteous  indignation!  "It  was 
in  these  times  and  amid  these  events  that  the  mind 
of  Savonarola  grew  into  shape." 

In  the  monastery,  carefully  attending  to  the 
instruction  of  the  novices,  Savonarola  did  not  for- 
get that  the  "chaste  and  venerable  virgin"  had  said, 
"Weep  and  be  silent ;  so  it  seemeth  best  to  me." 
He  was  austere  in  his  habits ;  far  more  so  than  the 
rules  of  the  brotherhood  required.  He  fasted  much 


4O  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

and  ate  only  what  was  necessary  to  sustain  life. 
His  clothing  was  plain  and  coarse,  but  always 
scrupulously  clean.  He  preached  poverty  faith- 
fully and  earnestly,  but  he  abhorred  dirt.  Like 
John  Wesley  of  a  later  time  he  believed  that  clean- 
liness is  next  to  godliness.  His  bed  was  a  rudely 
arranged  lattice  work  of  wood,  covered  with  a 
sack  of  straw  and  a  rough  woolen  blanket.  His 
vigils  of  prayer  were  frequent  and  long  continued. 
Worn  almost  to  a  skeleton  by  his  rigid  mortifica- 
tion of  the  flesh,  he  walked  about  looking  more 
like  a  shadow  than  a  man. 

There  is  a  story  that  two  monks  of  Vallom- 
brosa  who  came  to  visit  him  were  so  struck  by  the 
contrast  between  his  coarse  garments  and  their 
own  luxurious  attire  that  they  thought  it  nec- 
essary to  make  some  explanation.  Their  frocks 
they  said  were  made  of  fine  cloth  because  it  wore, 
so  much  longer.  "Ah,"  replied  Savonarola  dryly, 
"what  a  pity  it  is  that  St.  Benedict  and  San  Gio- 
vanni Gualberto  did  not  know  that;  for  then  they 
might  have  worn  the  same!"  The  monks  had  no 
further  excuses  to  offer  for  their  fine  clothes. 

As  a  teacher  of  the  novices  Savonarola's  suc- 
cess was  marked.  He  was  thorough  in  his  stud- 
ies. He  thought  clearly  and  had  rare  power  in 
expressing  his  thoughts  to  others  when  speaking 
to  a  small  company  of  interested  hearers.  In  Bo- 
logna he  took  up  the  writings  of  Plato,  and  for  a 
time  was  greatly  interested  in  them;  but  the  book 
he  studied  most  and  loved  best  was  the  Bible.  It 
was  in  the  exposition  of  the  Bible  to  the  novices, 
rather  than  in  explaining  Aristotle  and  the  prin- 
ciples of  physics,  in  which  he  found  greatest  de- 


IN  THE  MONASTERY  OF  BOW>GNA.          41 

light.  Such  was  his  success  with  the  novices  that 
he  was  promoted  from  the  office  of  instructor  to 
that  of  preacher,  and  was  sent  to  visit  several  of 
the  convents  in  Northern  Italy  and  to  preach  in  the 
churches.  In  1481  he  was  appointed  to  preach  in 
Ferrara,  his  native  city.  This  was  not  an  easy 
task,  and  he  went  to  it  unwillingly.  Something  of 
the  spirit  of  prophecy  was  already  upon  him,  but 
he  shrank  from  the  pulpit.  A  fire  burned  in  his 
soul,  but  he  was  not  yet  ready  to  preach.  Besides, 
Ferrara  was  the  last  place  he  would  have  chosen. 
This  was  his  home,  and  he  was  not  sure  how  his 
message  would  be  received. 

But  he  was  under  command  to  preach,  and  he 
gave  himself  to  the  task  with  enthusiasm  and 
energy.  His  sermons  do  not  seem  to  have  made 
any  great  impression,  either  in  Ferrara  or  in  other 
cities  and  towns  where  he  preached.  This  may 
have  been  because  he  had  not  yet  learned  how  to 
express  the  thought  which  burned  within  his  soul. 
It  was  a  keen  disappointment  to  him  that  his 
preaching  in  Ferrara  was  not  more  fruitful  in  re- 
sults. In  a  letter  to  his  mother  he  says,  "It  is  very 
seldom  that  a  monk  can  do  his  best  work  in  his 
native  country.  People  have  less  confidence  in  the 
counsels  of  a  fellow-citizen  than  in  those  of  a 
stranger.  'No  prophet  is  accepted  in  his  own 
country,'  said  our  Savior;  and  he  was  not  ac- 
counted one  by  his  own  countrymen.  If  I  were 
to  do  in  Ferrara  what  I  do  in  other  cities  they 
would  say  as  they  did  of  Christ,  'Is  not  this  the 
carpenter,  the  son  of  a  carpenter  and  of  Mary?' 
So  of  me:  'Is  not  this  Master  Girolamo  who  com- 
mitted such  and  such  sins,  and  who  was  no  better 


42  GiROivAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

than  we  were?  We  know  him  well/  And  they 
would  give  no  heed  to  my  word."  Perhaps  another 
reason  why  he  was  not  heard  with  greater  favor 
was  that  his  preaching  was  so  strikingly  different 
from  that  of  the  friars,  whose  aim  was  not  edifica- 
tion but  entertainment.  The  passion  to  please  dic- 
tated the  pulpit  fashion  of  the  age.  The  popular 
friars  tickled  the  ears  of  the  multitude  with  sto- 
ries and  buffooneries,  coarse  jokes  and  the  like  '•> 
they  spoke  smooth  sentences  and  they  were  enter- 
taining. Such  preaching  Savonarola  branded  as  a 
dead  word  and  not  Jesus  Christ. 

The  sermons  in  Ferrara  were  cut  short  by  civil 
war.  The  States  of  the  Church  on  one  side  and  the 
States  of  the  princes  on  the  other,  seemed  about  to 
center  upon  Ferrara  as  their  battle-ground,  the 
forces  of  Sixtus  coming  from  the  south  and  the 
forces  of  Venice  from  the  north.  Savonarola  was 
ordered  by  his  superior  to  leave  Ferrara  and  take 
up  quarters  with  the  brothers  of  San  Marco  in 
Florence. 

The  journey  across  the  Apennines  must  have 
been  one  filled  with  strange  thoughts,  disap- 
pointment and  home  commingled.  From  the 
heights  of  Fiesole  he  would  catch  his  first  glimpse 
of  his  new  home.  Standing  there  where  he  stood, 
with  the  blue  heights  of  the  Apennines  behind  us 
and  the  valley  of  the  Arno  at  our  feet,  let  us  look 
for  a  moment  at  the  city  to  which  our  young  monk 
is  going.  Florence  is  beautiful  for  situation.  "The 
city  of  flowers  and  the  flower  of  cities"  shines  in 
all  its  mediaeval  splendor.  The  slopes  above  the 
left  bank  of  the  winding  Arno,  from  San  Miniato 
towards  the  sea,  and  the  heights  above  the  side 


IN  THE  MONASTERY  OF  BOLOGNA.          43 

of  the  city  nearest  us,  from  beyond  Careggi  there 
to  the  left  of  the  road  which  leads  to  Fiesole,  are 
decked  with  charming  villas,  which  look  out  from 
their  foliaged  surroundings  like  gems  of  beauty 
glittering  under  the  soft  and  sunny  skies  of  Tus- 
cany. There  within  the  city  gates  are  the  palaces 
of  the  nobility.  Art  and  architecture  have  done 
their*  best  to  build  within  the  walls  of  Florence 
monuments  which  shall  be  the  marvel  of  succeed- 
ing centuries.  Arnolfo's  tower  stands  above  its  pal- 
ace of  strength,  a  silent  sentinel,  but  ready  to  ring 
out  its  warning  in  the  hour  of  danger.  The  Loggia 
dei  Lanzi  looks  out  on  the  Piazza,  as  if  to  listen  to 
the  discussions  of  the  people  and  learn  their 
thoughts.  The  Campanile  of  Giotto  shines  like  a 
silver  pillar!  Ruskin  describes  it  as  the  best  com- 
bination of  strength  and  beauty  ever  produced  by 
mortal.  In  front  of  the  Duomo  are  the  bronze 
doors  of  Ghiberti  hanging  on  their  hinges  in  the 
Baptistery.  "They  are  fit,"  said  Michael  Angelo, 
"to  be  the  gates  of  Paradise."  But  above  all  and 
king  of  all  is  the  mighty  dome  of  Brunelleschi, 
without  a  rival  among  all  the  cathedrals  of  Italy. 

The  conspicuous  man  in  this  Florence  is  Lo- 
renzo the  Magnificent.  Most  illustrious  member 
of  the  house  of  Medici,  he  is  now  at  the  height 
of  his  power  and  fame.  For  Lorenzo  as  the  patron 
of  learning  and  art  no  eulogy  is  too  extravagant. 
Painting  is  awakened  to  new  life ;  sculpture  is  hon- 
ored; princely  palaces  are  built  and  stately 
churches;  the  classics  have  nowhere  more  earnest 
study ;  on  the  street  corners  and  in  the  market- 
place men  discuss  the  rival  philosophies  of  Plato 
and  Aristotle.  Lorenzo  has  gathered  about  him  a 


44  GiROivAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

company  of  artists  and  scholars  matched  nowhere 
in  all  Europe.  There  is  Poliziano!  brilliant  pro- 
fessor of  Greek  and  Latin  eloquence  in  the  univer- 
sity, first  poet  of  his  age.  There  is  Landino !  the  ex- 
positor of  Dante.  There  is  Pico  della  Mirandola! 
"the  most  learned  creature,"  says  Mrs.  Oliphant, 
"that  ever  fluttered  near  a  prince ;"  classical  writer 
and  Orientalist,  linguist  and  scientist.  There  is 
Marsilio  Ficino!  founder  of  the  far-famed  Platonic 
Academy;  the  man  who  more  than  any  other  rep- 
resents the  renaissance  of  Platonic  philosophy  and 
exerts  largest  influence  in  the  progress  of  inde- 
pendent thought.  Into  this  charmed  circle  will 
come  in  a  few  days  the  young  Michael  Angelo 
to  chisel  his  mighty  conceptions  into  forms  of 
beauty. 

This  is  the  Florence  upon  which  Savonarola 
now  looks  for  the  first  time.  He  will  make  his 
home  in  the  monastery  of  San  Marco,  just  within 
the  San  Gallo  gate  yonder.  Florence !  The  simple 
monk  who  approaches  thy  gates  is  a  man  thou  wilt 
do  well  to  know.  The  spotless  lily  on  thy  coat  of 
arms  has  not  more  purity  in  its  face  than  thou 
wilt  find  in  his  soul.  He  will  be  a  better  prophet 
of  thy  future  than  any  representative  of  -thy  Pla- 
tonic Academy.  He  will  touch  diviner  notes  of 
poetry  in  thy  Duomo  yonder  than  any  son  of  the 
muses  who  sits  at  Lorenzo's  table.  He  will  speak 
out  for  thy  liberty  when  every  other  voice  is  si- 
lent. He  will  have  the  courage  and  fortitude  to 
steady  thy  ship  of  State  when  mobs  and  tyrants 
would  peril  thy  independence.  Open  thy  gates 
wide  to  him  to-day !  Bid  him  welcome. 


CHAPTER  IV. 
EARLY  DAYS  IN  SAN  MARCO. 

THE  early  days  in  San  Marco  seem  to  have  been 
hopeful  ones.  Angels,  madonnas,  and  saints,  fresh 
from  the  brush  of  Angelico,  looked  down  on  the 
new  brother  with  heavenly  faces.  The  name  of 
the  holy  bishop,  Antonino,  was  ever  on  the  lips  of 
the  monks.  The  novices  listened  with  rapt  atten- 
tion to  the  new  lecturer.  There  was  an  air  of 
scholarship  in  the  new  surroundings  which  was 
pleasing  to  the  eager  mind  of  Savonarola.  Here 
in  this  monastery  were  spent  the  happiest  and  most 
joyful  years  of  his  life;  here  also  the  saddest  and 
most  painful. 

The  monastery  of  San  Marco  was  originally 
the  home  of  a  company  of  Sylvestrine  monks  who 
had  come  from  Vallombrosa  in  the  closing  years 
of  the  thirteenth  century.  For  a  full  hundred  years 
these  brothers  of  St.  Sylvester  lived  worthy  lives 
and  wrought  for  the  good  of  the  Church  and  for 
Florence.  After  the  great  plague  described  by 
Boccaccio,  discipline  was  relaxed  and  evils  began 
to  creep  in.  In  1436,  through  the  influence  of 
Cosimo  de'  Medici,  the  property  was  turned  over 
to  a  society  of  Dominicans  who  had  formerly  lived 
in  a  small  monastery  at  Fiesole,  but  later  estab- 
lished themselves  in  a  convent  in  the  region  of  San 
Miniato,  back  of  where  the  Boboli  gardens  are  now. 

45 


46  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

This  monastery  was  turned  over  to  the  Sylvestrine 
monks,  and  the  Brothers  of  St.  Dominic,  in  solemn 
procession,  entered  San  Marco. 

The  buildings  of  San  Marco  were  at  that  time  ' 
in  a  sad  state  of  dilapidation,  partly  through  neg- 
lect and  partly  because  of  a  serious  fire  during  the 
previous  year.  Cosimo,  the  great  patron  of  the 
Dominicans  in  Florence,  promised  10,000  florins 
for  the  rebuilding  of  the  monastery.  He  actually 
spent  nearly  40,000  before  he  was  done.  The  work 
was  intrusted  to  Michelozzo  Michelozzi,  one  of  the 
most  celebrated  architects  of  the  day.  The  result 
was  practically  a  new  monastery  which  was  com- 
pleted in  1443.  Not  content  with  the  new  build- 
ings, Cosimo  desired  to  secure  for  the  Dominicans 
a  valuable  library.  But  manuscripts  were  expen- 
sive, and  it  was  no  easy  task  to  secure  such  a  li- 
brary as  Cosimo  wanted.  Fortunately  for  him,  the 
greatest  collector  of  manuscripts  in  all  Europe, 
Niccolo  Niccoli,  had  just  died  leaving  his  rare  and 
valuable  collection  to  Florence.  But  with  manu- 
scripts and  codices  he  had  also  bequeathed  many 
debts,  which  the  city  was  not  able  to  assume. 
These  Cosimo  paid  off,  and  then  turned  over  the 
whole  library,  not  counting  a  few  codices  which 
he  reserved  for  himself,  to  the  monastery.  This 
library  gave  to  San  Marco  a  pleasing  pre-eminence 
as  a  center  of  erudition  and  culture.  Brothers  of 
the  Dominican  Order,  ambitious  for  further  knowl- 
edge of  letters,  came  to  Florence,  and  men  of  dis- 
tinction both  lay  and  clerical,  frequently  visited  the 
monastery  to  see  the  library  and  to  converse  with 
the  more  learned  of  the  friars. 


EARLY  DAYS  IN  SAN  MARCO.  47 

Two  men  so  lived  and  wrought  in  this  mon- 
astery during  the  early  years  of  its  history  that 
no  sketch  of  Savonarola,  however  brief,  would  be 
complete  without  mentioning  their  names,  and  tell- 
ing something  of  what  they  did.  One  was  Giovanni 
da  Fiesole,  known  to  Christian  art,  and  to  the 
Christian  world,  as  Fra  Angelico.  It  was  he  who 
covered  the  convent  walls  with  the  incomparable, 
frescoes  already  referred  to.  Vasari  describes  him 
as  a  man  of  simple  and  blameless  life,  who  painted 
incessantly,  but  never  painted  other  than  sacred 
subjects.  He  might  have  amassed  *a  fortune,  but 
he  scorned  to  do  so,  saying  that  true  riches  con- 
sisted in  being  content  with  little.  He  might  have 
enjoyed  dignities  both  within  and  without  his  con- 
vent, but  he  refused.  Humane  and  temperate,  he 
led  a  chaste  life,  avoiding  the  snares  of  the  world, 
and  he  was  wont  to  explain  that  peace  and  quiet 
were  essential  to  the  pursuit  of  art,  and  that  he 
who  illustrates  the  acts  of  Christ  should  live  in 
his  presence.  If  he  received  an  order  for  a  paint- 
ing, he  would  first  consult  the  wishes  of  his  su- 
perior ;  permission  once  granted,  he  was  always 
ready  to  perform  his  part.  In  a  word,  he  was 
modest  and  humble  in  all  his  actions,  and  in  his 
pictures  tender  and  pious.  No  one,  so  well  as  he, 
knew  how  to  confer  upon  saints  the  air  and  sem- 
blance of  real  sanctity.  He  never  retouched  or  al- 
tered anything  he  had  finished,  but  left  it  as  it 
was,  believing  it  to  be  the  wish  of  God  that  it 
should  be  so.  An  appreciative  Catholic  critic  says : 
"Fra  Angelico,  I  feel  tempted  to  believe,  nour- 
ished his  mind  on  the  Imitation  of  Christ  when  he 


48  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

was  not  studying  the  Holy  Scriptures;  for  it  is 
the  spirit  of  the  'Imitation,'  the  spirit  of  the  Gos- 
pel of  St.  John,  that  illuminates  his  canvases." 
No  visitor  to  San  Marco  can  enter  the  cells,  linger 
in  the  cloisters,  or  sit  down  in  the  chapter-house 
before  the  great  crucifixion  without  feeling  that 
Michael  Angelo  was  right  in  saying  that  Angelico 
must  have  visited  Paradise  and  been  allowed  to 
select  his  models  from  among  those  he  saw  there. 
Painting  to  him  was  prayer,  and  his  pictures  were 
as  prayers  laid  at  the  feet  of  his  Savior.  The 
Catholic  Church  has  never  written  his  name  in 
the  list  of  saints,  but  Christian  art  knows  him  as 
"Angelico." 

The  second  name  is  that  of  Antonino,  already 
described,  as  "the  holy  bishop  whose  cell  is  at 
the  right  on  entering  the  corridor."  Proud  as  the 
brothers  of  San  Marco  were  of  all  their  costly 
manuscripts  and  rich  treasures  of  art,  they  gloried 
most  in  their  founder  and  spiritual  father,  An- 
tonino. He  was  one  of  those  characters,  says  Vil- 
lari,  who  are  the  true  glories  of  the  human  race. 
One  of  those  true  men  he  was,  whose  life  was  a 
living  example  of  self-abnegation,  active  charity, 
and  beautiful  Christian  love.  He  was  the  founder 
of  nearly  every  benevolent  institution  in  Florence. 
The  institutions  he  did  not  found  he  revived  or 
changed  their  purpose.  He  had  the  happy  faculty 
of  touching  the  bad  and  making  it  good.  The  so- 
ciety of  the  Bigallo,  once  captains  of  the  faith,  but 
later  the  terror  of  Florence,  was  transformed  into 
a  society  for  the  rescue  and  care  of  forsaken  or- 
phans. It  was  he  who  founded  the  society  of 


EARI,Y  DAYS  IN  SAN  MARCO.  49 

"The  Good  Men  of  St.  Martin,"  a  society  to 
secure  relief  for  the  honest  poor  who  were 
ashamed  to  beg.  These  are  only  a  few  of  the 
things  he  did  for  the  public  benefit.  Often  he  was 
seen  going  about  the  city  leading  a  donkey  loaded 
with  bread  and  clothes  for  those  who  suffered  from 
poverty  and  plague.  His  death,  in  1459,  was 
mourned  in  Florence  as  a  public  calamity.  His 
name  in  the  monastery  was  like  ointment  poured 
out. 

Such  was  the  San  Marco  to  which  Savonarola 
came  in  1481.  .Charmed  by  the  frescoes  of  An- 
gelico,  and  influenced  by  the  spirit  of  Antonino, 
which  still  pervaded  the  cloister,  the  early  days  in 
Florence  must  have  been  among  the  happiest  of 
his  life.  No  wonder  he  felt  that  he  had  come  into 
the  world  of  his  dreams.  The  past  was  almost 
forgotten  in  an  ambitious  and  hopeful  present. 

But  that  keen  and  true  eye  which  had  looked 
beneath  the  surface  in  Ferrara,  soon  began  to  dis- 
cover that  in  Florence  also  there  was  a  seeming 
and  a  real.  The  monks  who  lauded  Antonino  took 
no  thought  to  live  his  life.  The  painters  who 
praised  Angelico  had  nothing  of  his  spirit.  Art 
had  no  high  ideal.  Much  of  the  boasted  scholar- 
ship was  only  meaningless  imitation.  The  people, 
fascinated  by  the  spell  of  their  magnificent  Lorenzo, 
had  lost  their  liberties  and  did  not  know  it.  In 
the  shows  and  carnivals  of  their  ruler,  they  heard 
only  "the  ringing  of  silver  plate  and  the  clinking 
of  Venetian  glass."  In  the  tightening  grip  of  the 
tyrant,  his  usurpation,  profligacy,  and  bloodshed; 
in  the  lewd  songs  of  the  street  and  the  abandoned 


5O  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

corruption  of  the  popular  mind;  in  the  fawning 
parasitism  of  the  princely  families  and  the  spolia- 
tion of  public  morals;  in  the  intolerable  degrada- 
tion of  the  poor  and  the  free  play  of  the  assassin's 
dagger,  Savonarola  heard  "the  clanking  of  chains 
and  the  groans  of  human  beings  in  pain." 

The  preachers  of  Florence  quoted  in  their  ser- 
mons from  the  Greek  poets  and  Latin  orators ;  sel- 
dom from  the  Gospels  and  Epistles.  They  pre- 
sented not  the  Christ  of  Calvary  but  the  gods  of 
Olympus.  The  Church  had  become  paganized. 
With  eye  and  ear  open  to  all,  the  old  indignation 
of  Savonarola  again  broke  forth.  Often  the  im- 
passioned cry  must  have  escaped,  in  the  privacy 
of  his  cell  or  as  he  walked  about  the  monastery, 
"O,  that  I  might  break  those  spreading  wings!" 

The  opportunity  came.  He  was  invited  to 
preach  the  Lenten  sermons  in  the  Church  of  San 
Lorenzo.  As  lecturer  in  San  Marco  he  had  made 
some  reputation,  and  a  fine  audience  greeted  him 
for  the  first  sermon;  but  before  the  sermons  were 
done  less  than  two-score  people  remained  to  hear 
him.  The  defeat  was  simply  overwhelming.  Was 
it  because  the  people  of  Florence  were  not  church- 
goers? Not  at  all.  Fra  Mariano  was  preaching  to 
crowds  in  the  spacious  Church  of  Santo  Spirito, 
on  the  other  side  of  the  Arno.  The  church  was 
filled  to  the  doors  at  every  service,  and  everywhere 
the  sermons  were  praised,  praised  for  their  grand 
sentences  and  periods  of  harmonious  cadence. 
What  will  Savonarola  do?  The  pulpit  is  closed 
against  him  by  his  own  announcement  that  he  will 
preach  no  more.  The  one  direction  in  which  he 


EARLY  DAYS  IN  SAN  MARCO.  51 

must  go,  he  can  not  go!  Florence  is  not  yet  ready 
for  her  great  preacher.  The  city  must  listen  a  little 
longer  to  Mariano. 

But  if  the  people  were  not  yet  ready  for  their 
preacher,  neither  was  the  preacher  ready  for  the 
people.  He  had  not  yet  found  his  true  voice.  He 
could  not  speak  his  message.  His  vision  was  not 
yet  clear  and  complete.  He  must  go  out  from  the 
city  into  the  village  of  Tuscany  where,  in  the  moun- 
tains, like  Moses  and  Elijah,  he  shall  receive  more 
fully  the  word  which  God  will  have  him  speak. 


CHAPTER  V. 
IN  THE  .VILLAGES   OF  TUSCANY. 

IT  was  a  keen  disappointment  to  Savonarola 
that  his  first  attempt  at  preaching  in  Florence  was 
such  a  failure.  With  bowed  head,  and  hood  drawn 
tightly  about  his  face,  he  went  to  his  cell  with  a 
heavy  heart.  If  he  had  been  a  man  without  a  mes- 
sage it  would  have  been  different.  But  he  had  a 
message,  and  he  knew  it.  The  "spreading  wings" 
he  saw  always  as  a  dark  cloud  looming  up  in 
the  south.  No  man  could  see  clearly  what  he  saw 
without  having  a  message. 

The  trouble  was  he  could  not  speak  out  what 
was  within  him.  For  some  reason  he  did  not  as 
yet  have  power  to  challenge  and  hold  the  atten- 
tion of  the  people.  Perhaps  this  was  in  part 
because  of  his  harsh  and  unfamiliar  Lombard 
speech,  so  different  from  the  soft>  musical  rhyth- 
mic speech  of  Tuscany.  The  form  of  his  address, 
too,  may  have  had  something  to  do  with  his  fail- 
ure. The  tricks  of  oratory  he  could  not  endure. 
Besides,  he  preached  from  an  unfamiliar  book — 
the  Bible.  Plato,  Aristotle,  and  Aquinas  the  peo- 
ple knew  about.  But  Moses  and  Isaiah,  St.  John 
and  St.  Paul !  To  such  writings  as  these  men  had 
given  little  concern.  Savonarola  preached  the 
great  themes  of  the  Bible.  The  very  language  of 

52 


IN  THE  VILLAGES  OF  TUSCANY.  53 

the  Bible  he  quoted  much  in  his  sermons.  His 
was  an  earnest,  straightforward,  and,  at  times,  im- 
passioned message,  vitally  related  to  the  life  of 
the  men  and  women  about  him.  But  he  was  not 
yet  the  medium  through  whom  God  could  speak 
to  Florence  of  her  wickedness  in  high  places  and 
the  foulness  lurking  in  the  dark. 

The  ideal  preacher  of  Florence  was  Fra  Ma- 
riano. He  preached  the  sort  of  a  sermon  that  the 
gay  city  enjoyed.  "I  went  to  hear  him,"  writes 
the  refined  and  learned  Poliziano  to  a  friend, 
"feeling  badly  disposed,  and  mistrustful  of  the 
great  praises  I  had  heard  of  him.  But  no  sooner 
did  I  enter  the  church  than  the  preacher's  appear- 
ance, his  habit  and  his  face,  wrought  a  revulsion 
in  my  feelings,  and  I  at  once  desired  and  expected 
great  things.  I  confess  to  thee,  that  he  frequently 
seemed  to  soar  to  a  gigantic  height  in  the  pulpit, 
far  beyond  all  human  proportions.  And  now,  be- 
hold, he  begins  to  speak!  I  am  all  ears  to  the 
musical  voice,  the  chosen  words,  the  grand  sen- 
tences. Then  I  note  the  clauses,  recognize  the 
periods,  am  swayed  by  their  harmonious  cadence." 
This  was  the  preacher  for  pleasure-loving  Florence. 
He  had  a  musical  voice,  his  words  were  well 
chosen,  and  what  "grand  sentences"  he  spoke! 
And  then  to  think  of  the  "clauses,"  "the  periods," 
and  the  "harmonious  cadences !"  Florence  asked 
nothing  better  of  a  preacher  than  this.  Mariano 
completely  overshadowed  every  other  preacher  of 
the  city.  The  leaders,  politicians  and  devotees  of 
Plato,  heard  him  with  delight.  Everybody  else 
followed  them. 


54  GiROivAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

It  was  the  wonderful  popularity  of  this  Fra 
Mariano  which  led  a  friend  of  Savonarola  to  say 
to  him  one  day  not  long  after  his  failure  in  San 
Lorenzo,  "Father,  one  can  not  deny  that  your  doc- 
trine is  true,  useful  and  necessary;  but  your  man- 
ner of  delivering  it  lacks  grace,  especially  as  it 
is  daily  compared  with  that  of  Fra  Mariano." 
Stung  by  the  covert  suggestion,  Savonarola  re- 
plied rather  impatiently,  "These  verbal  eloquences 
and  ornaments  will  have  to  give  way  to  sound 
doctrine  simply  preached."  Meanwhile  Mariano's 
popularity  increased.  His  "grand  sentences"  and 
periods  of  "harmonious  cadence"  attracted  and  held 
the  people.  That  polished  style  of  his !  Who  in 
Florence  could  resist  it?  "His  words,  phrases  and 
gestures  were  all  studied ;  his  lines  from  the  Latin 
poets  were  declaimed  with  much  eloquence ;  and 
he  was  lavish  of  quotations  from  Plato  and  Aris- 
totle. His  sermons  were  copied  from  the  orations 
of  Ficino  to  the  Platonic  Academy,  which  were 
then  considered  models  of  highest  eloquence ;  he 
frequently  recounted  laughable  anecdotes,  and  used 
every  device  to  swell  the  number  of  his  hearers." 

Savonarola,  though  humiliated,  was  not  dis- 
heartened. He  went  to  his  cell  and  devoted  him- 
self to  the  study  of  the  Bible  with  greater  en- 
thusiasm than  ever.  The  prophets  loomed  big 
before  him  and  he  saw  again  how  they  fought 
against  ingratitude  and  against  sin.  He  waited 
much  in  prayer.  He  kept  long  vigils.  At  last  a 
vision  came  to  him.  The  present  and  future 
calamities  of  the  Church  passed  before  his  eyes 
and  he  heard  a  voice  charging  him  to  preach. 


IN  THE  VILLAGES  otf  TUSCANY.  55 

At  about  this  time  he  was  sent  by  his  superior 
to  Reggio,  a  little  town  in  the  extreme  northern 
part  of  Italy,  to  attend  a  chapter  meeting  of  his 
brotherhood.  On  the  journey  disquieting  news 
came  to  him  of  war  breaking  out  against  his  native 
city  of  Ferrara.  He  knew  the  cause  to  be  the 
greed  and  ambition  of  the  man  called  to  be  the 
head  of  the  Church.  In  a  spirit  of  holy  indigna- 
tion he  could  hardly  contain,  he  arrived  at  Reggio. 
The  chapter  meeting  was  attended  not  only  by 
Dominican  Brothers,  but  by  a  large  company  of 
ecclesiastics,  and  by  laymen  distinguished  in  letters 
and  science.  The  man  who  claimed  most  atten- 
tion was  Pico  della  Mirandola.  This  prodigy,  still 
in  his  teens,  was  easily  the  center  of  attraction. 
Distinguished  scholars  bowed  before  him  and  he  re- 
ceived the  homage  of  the  highest  dignitaries  of  the 
Church.  His  precocity  and  marvelous  memory  ex- 
cited the  astonishment  of  all.  It  was  said  of  him  later 
that  he  was  acquainted  with  not  less  than  twenty- 
two  different  languages.  In  fact  he  devoted  him- 
self to  the  study  of  all  languages  and  of  all  tongues 
for  which  teachers  and  grammars  could  be  found. 
Imitating  the  Platonists  of  Alexandria  he  sought 
to  harmonize  theology  and  philosophy,  and  even 
attempted  to  reconcile  paganism  with  Christianity. 
It  seems  almost  ludicrous,  but  in  1486  he  went  to 
Rome  and  proposed  a  philosophical  tournament. 
Nine  hundred  propositions  were  issued,  including 
all  questions  in  all  the  sciences.  With  rare  com- 
placency he  announced  his  readiness  to  reply  to 
all  comers.  He  even  sent  invitations  to  men  of 
learning  in  all  countries  to  visit  Rome  and  ques- 


56  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

tion  him  concerning  any  or  all  of  his  propositions. 
The  tournament  was  suddenly  brought  to  an  end 
by  Pope  Innocent  VIII,  who  condemned  the  ques- 
tions, the  whole  nine  hundred  of  them. 

It  is  probable  that  Pico's  vast  erudition  was 
not  what  his  friends  claimed  and  that  his  literary 
ability  was  greatly  overrated.  Nevertheless,  his 
quickness  of  mind;  his  wonderful  memory;  the 
varied  brilliancy  of  his  conversation ;  his  nobility 
and  grace;  his  youthful  beauty;  the  fair  hair  fall- 
ing in  thick  curls  on  his  shoulders;  everything 
about  him,  in  short,  attracted  sympathy  and  helped 
to  advance  his  reputation.  He  was  the  man  who 
was  the  center  of  attraction  for  all  the  distinguished 
scholars  attending  the  chapter  at  Reggio.  At  that 
moment,  fresh  from  the  universities  of  Bologna 
and  Ferrara,  where  he  had  completed  his  studies 
in  theology  and  philosophy,  he  was  at  the  height 
of  his  youthful  beauty  and  already  renowned  for 
his  eloquence. 

Not  much  chance  for  Savonarola  to  speak  out 
his  thoughts  before  such  a  company  as  this,  but 
he  was  there  to  represent  San  Marco,  and  he 
waited  ready  to  speak  if  commanded.  Silent  he 
sat  among  his  brother  monks,  yet  there  was,  some- 
thing about  his  appearance  which  there,  as  every- 
where, attracted  attention.  He  was  a  man  of  me- 
dium height  and  dark  complexion ;  he  had  gray 
eyes,  aquiline  nose,  and  large  mouth;  his  thick 
lips  spoke  purpose  of  stubborn  firmness;  his  fore- 
head was  marked  with  deep  furrows  that  told  of 
serious  thought;  there  was  no  line  of  beauty  in 
his  countenance,  but  a  benevolent  charm  and  a 


IN  THE  VISAGES  otf  TUSCANY.  57 

severe  nobility  of  character  which  inspired  confi- 
dence. 

While  the  discussions  were  taken  up  with  rit- 
ual and  dogma  Savonarola  sat  silent  and  appar- 
ently unconcerned.  But  when  a  question  of 
morals  and  discipline  was  touched  upon  he  rose 
to  his  feet.  All  eyes  were  fastened  upon  him! 
Now  for  the  first  time  he  spoke  his  convictions 
with  power.  The  soul  of  the  man  expressed  itself 
in  every  gesture  and  movement.  With  radiant 
countenance,  eyes  darting  flashes  of  lightning,  his 
warning  struck  like  hot  thunderbolts.  His  hear- 
ers were  transfixed  with  amazement.  Pico  della 
Mirandola,  who  heard  him  that  day,  confessed  him 
to  be  a  wonderful  man,  gifted  with  a  mysterious 
moral  force,  and  said,  "Here  is  a  man  who  once 
known  can  never  be  forgotten."  From  that  day 
Pico  became  the  friend  of  Savonarola.  To  Lorenzo 
the  Magnificent  he  sent  a  message  expressing  his 
belief  that  the  eloquent  monk  would  contribute 
much  to  the  glory  of  Florence,  and  urged  Lorenzo 
to  invite  him  to  make  there  his  permanent  home. 
But  Savonarola  was  not  yet  ready  to  speak  his 
message  in  Florence.  He  returned  to  the  city 
when  the  chapter  meeting  was  over,  but  gave  him- 
self with  enthusiasm  to  the  further  study  of  the 
Bible  and  to  the  work  in  which  he  was  always 
successful,  the  instruction  of  the  novices. 

An  event  of  great  moment  to  Italy  and  the 
Christian  Church  occurred  now,  in  the  death  of 
Sixtus  IV.  Righteous  souls  rejoiced  in  the  begin- 
ning of  better  days  for  Christianity.  No  one 
dreamed  that  a  worse  pope  could  come  to  the 


58  GiROivAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

papal  chair  than  Sixtus,  who  had  so  outrageously 
disgraced  the  tiara  and  all  else  he  touched.  It 
was  now  that  Savonarola  wrote  a  poetic  prayer 
addressed  to  Jesus  Christ: 

"  Ah !  look  with  pity  on  Thy  storm-beaten  bride, 
Look  on  the  blood  that  must  be  shed ; 
Unless  Thy  merciful  hand, 
The  hand  ever  ready  to  pardon, 
Will  not  restore  her  to  the  peace 
Of  past  day  of  poverty." 

The  result  of  the  conclave  in  the  election  of 
Innocent  VIII  startled  even  the  pleasure-loving 
priests  and  smooth-tongued  orators  of  the  Lenten 
season.  It  seemed  incredible !  But  in  Florence 
as  well  as  in  Rome,  the  names  of  the  cardinals 
who  had  sold  their  votes  were  freely  discussed,  as 
well  as  the  prices  paid.  Many  pious  souls  would 
gladly  have  gone  back  to  the  days  of  Sixtus.  Cath- 
olic writers  make  sad  work  in  trying  to  offer  any 
apology  whatever  for  Innocent  VIII.  It  was  no- 
torious that  in  his  day  the  Roman  court  became 
the  center  of  sensuality  and  scandalous  living. 
With  religion  openly  threatened  and  humanity  dis- 
honored, men  waited  with  bated  breath  what  doom 
might  yet  be  reserved  for  poor  Italy. 

The  storm  of  emotion  which  swept  the  soul 
of  Savonarola  can  not  be  described.  It  is  haYd 
even  to  imagine.  Fortunately  he  got  out  of  Flor- 
ence; got  where  he  could  breathe,  away  from  the 
frightful  surroundings  which  daily  reminded  him 
of  the  great  scandal  of  Rome.  He  was  sent  to  San 
Gemignano.  The  people  here  were  simple  folk 
who  had  not  yet  learned  that  the  true  test  of  a 


IN  THE  VISAGES  OF  TUSCANY.  59 

sermon  was  in  its  "grand  sentences  and  periods  of 
harmonious  cadence."  They  did  know  something 
of  the  political  conditions  in  Italy,  and  they  knew 
also  that  there  was  something  wrong  with  the 
Church.  They  had  a  vague  sense  that  the  times 
were  out  of  joint.  Here  it  was,  and  in  speaking  to 
this  people,  that  the  thoughts  which  had  so  long 
filled  Savonarola's  soul  definitely  voiced  themselves 
and  became  a  real  message.  He  sounded  here  the 
spiritual  battle-cry  which  had  come  to  him  after 
seeing  the  vision  of  the  calamities  about  to  fall 
upon  the  Church.  He  boldly  announced  that  the 
Church  would  be  scourged;  that  it  would  be  re- 
generated ;  and  that  all  this  would  come  to  pass 
speedily.  This  announcement  was  not  made  as  a 
vision;  it  was  a  conclusion  supported  by  rational 
argument  and  on  the  authority  of  the  Bible.  The 
scourge  of  God's  wrath  must  come!  It  could  not 
be  otherwise.  The  transgressions  of  His  people 
compelled  it. 

Here  then  at  San  Gemignano  Savonarola  dis- 
covered that  he  had  a  message  for  men  outside  the 
monastery.  He  had  oftentimes  stirred  the  blood 
and  fired  the  consciences  of  the  novices  with  his 
burning  words;  he  had  powerfully  portrayed  the 
scandalous  corruption  of  the  Church  to  brother 
monks  and  the  learned  men  at  Reggio ;  but  his 
message  in  both  instances  was  in  the  language  of 
the  schools.  At  San  Gemignano  he  spoke  the  lan- 
guage of  the  people,  and  brought  a  message  to  the 
people.  What  he  did  was  not  very  unlike  what 
Wyclif  had  done  in  England  a  century  before, 
and  what  Martin  Luther  did  a  little  later  in  Ger- 


60  GiROivAMO  SAVONAROIA. 

many, — he  brought  the  great  word  and  message 
of  God  to  the  common  people.  His  was  a  strange 
eloquence,  wholly  unfamiliar.  The  people  had 
never  heard  anything  like  it ;  they  were  in  ecstasy ; 
they  were  moved.  God's  prophet  had  spoken  to 
them.  It  was  here  at  San  Gemignano  that  Savon- 
arola found  his  true  vocation. 

When  Fra  Girolamo  returned  to  Florence  it 
was  with  a  new  calm  and  confidence.  He  could 
wait  now,  for  he  knew  that  somehow,  in  God's 
good  time,  "the  spreading  wings"  would  be  broken. 
He  re-entered  upon  his  work  as  lecturer  to  the 
novices  with  increased  confidence  in  the  heavenly 
vision,  and  with  a  strong  conviction  that  through 
the  preaching  of  the  Book,  and  through  this  only, 
men  would  be  brought  to  right  living. 

The  Lenten  season  of  1486  found  Savonarola 
at  Brescia,  a  town  some  two  hundred  miles  north 
of  Florence,  just  at  the  foot  of  the  Alps.  If  the 
Lenten  season  the  year  before  at  San  Gemignano 
had  been  eventful,  this  one  at  Brescia  was  even 
more  so.  The  man  was  being  guided  to  his  God- 
appointed  work.  His  theme  in  this  series  of  ser- 
mons was  the  Book  of  Revelation.  With  fervent 
words  and  commanding  tone  he  spoke  with  .a  voice 
which  sometimes  seemed  to  the  people  the  voice 
of  thunder.  He  reproved  sin,  denounced  the  cor- 
ruptions of  the  time,  and  pointed  out  the  impending 
threatenings  of  God's  wrath.  "Your  city  here,"  he 
declared,  "will  fall  a  prey  to  raging  foes ;  you  will 
see  rivers  of  blood  in  the  streets;  wives  will  be 
torn  from  their  husbands,  virgins  ravished,  and 
children  murdered  before  their  mothers'  eyes.  All 


IN  THE  VIUAGES  of  TUSCANY.  61 

will  be  terror  and  fire  and  bloodshed."  Then,  with 
a  persuasive  eloquence,  never  forgotten  by  the  peo- 
ple who  heard  him,  he  exhorted  to  repentance; 
he  described  God's  mercy  and  infinite  forgiveness. 
It  was  a  voice  from  the  other  world.  When  the 
sermons  were  done,  there  was  no  talk  in  Brescia 
but  of  the  wonderful  preacher. 

A  quarter  of  a  century  later,  when  the  blood- 
thirsty soldiers  of  Gaston  de  Foix  slaughtered  six 
thousand  people  in  Brescia,  there  were  many  who 
remembered  Fra  Girolamo's  message  of  warning. 
All  Italy  soon  heard  that  a  new  prophet  had  risen 
up  in  the  north.  Savonarola  could  no  longer  doubt 
his  mission.  He  preached  in  Genoa,  and  later  in 
Pavia  and  in  Bologna.  Shortly  before  going  to 
Genoa  he  wrote  a  letter  to  his  mother  which  is 
strikingly  suggestive  of  his  spirit  and  purpose  at 
this  time.  "I  have  renounced  the  world,  and  have 
become  a  laborer  in  my  Master's  vineyard  in  many 
cities,  not  only  to  save  my  own  soul,  but  the  souls 
of  other  men.  If  the  Lord  have  intrusted  the  tal- 
ent to  me,  I  must  needs  use  it  as  He  wills;  and 
seeing  that  He  hath  chosen  me  for  this  sacred 
office,  rest  ye  content  that  I  must  fulfill  it  far  from 
my  native  place,  for  I  bear  better  fruit  than  I 
could  have  borne  at  Ferrara.  There  it  would  be 
with  me  as  it  was  with  Christ,  when  his  country- 
men said,  'Is  not  this  man  a  carpenter,  and  a  son 
of  a  carpenter?'  But  out  of  my  own  place  it  has 
never  been  said  to  me ;  rather,  when  I  have  to 
depart,  men  and  women  shed  tears,  and  hold  my 
words  in  much  esteem."  He  perhaps  had  in  mind 
here  the  leave-taking  after  the  Lenten  season  at 


62  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

Brescia.  "I  thought  to  have  written  only  a  few 
lines,  but  love  hath  caused  my  pen  to  run  on, 
and  I  have  opened  my  heart  to  you  far  more  than 
was  my  purpose.  Know,  then,  that  this  heart  of 
mine  is  more  than  ever  bent  on  devoting  soul  and 
body,  and  all  the  knowledge  granted  to  me  by 
God,  to  His  service  and  to  my  neighbor's  salva- 
tion; and  since  this  work  was  not  to  be  done  in 
my  own  land,  I  am  fain  to  perform  it  elsewhere. 
Encourage  all  to  righteous  living.  I  depart  for 
Genoa  this  day." 

After  preaching  in  these  cities  of  the  North 
Savonarola  yielded  to  the  invitation  of  Lorenzo  and 
returned  to  Florence.  Little  did  Lorenzo  know 
whom  he  was  inviting  to  come.  He  thought  it 
was  a  friend  of  his  own  true  friend,  Pico  della 
Mirandola.  Had  he  known  what  a  foe  of  tyranny 
Savonarola  was,  and  how  he  would  destroy  the 
power  of  his  own  house,  the  invitation  would  not 
have  been  sent.  There  was  just  one  prophet  in 
Northern  Italy  at  that  time  to  whom  God  had 
given  a  message  against  the  corruptions  of  the  age, 
and  there  was  just  one  city  where  the  prophet's 
message  could  be  spoken  to  the  best  advantage. 
The  prophet  was  Savonarola;  the  city,  Florence. 


CHAPTER  VI. 
LORENZO  AND  HIS  CITY. 

THE  house  of  the  Medici,  renowned  in  Floren- 
tine history  and  illustrious  in  Europe,  was  at  the 
zenith  of  its  power  and  influence  during  the  rule 
of  Lorenzo  the  Magnificent.  For  our  present  pur- 
pose the  first  member  of  the  house  we  need  to 
know  about  is  Giovanni,  a  wealthy  merchant-prince 
of  Florence  in  the  early  part  of  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury. It  was  this  Giovanni  who  amassed  the  for- 
tune which  brought  the  family  into  prominence. 
He  was  the  richest  banker  of  his  day  in  all  Italy. 

The  history  of  Florence  has  been  divided  into 
four  periods:  first,  the  heroic  stage,  from  1183  to 
1321 ;  second,  the  leveling  stage,  from  1321  to 
1382 ;  third,  the  reactionary  or  aristocratic  stage, 
from  1382  to  1434;  fourth,  the  Medicean,  or  servile, 
stage.  The  third  period  was  marked  by  the  rule 
of  a  burgher  aristocracy,  made  possible  by  certain 
families  coming  to  quick  riches.  There  was  much 
of  disorder  in  this  period,  for  it  was  one  of  transi- 
tion. During  part  of  the  time  Florence  was  the 
seat  of  the  papacy.  In  1419  Pope  Martin  V  took 
up  his  residence  in  Florence,  and  thus  made  it  the 
center  of  Christendom.  Guicciardini,  in  his  "His- 
tory of  Florence,"  maintains  that  the  government 
at  this  epoch  was  the  wisest,  the  most  glorious,  and 
the  happiest  the  city  had  ever  known.  The  Renais- 

63 


64  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

sance  was  dawning  and  Florence  was  full  of 
scholars  and  artists  patronized  by  the  government. 

The  great  and  ruling  family  of  this  period  was 
the  Albizzi,  which  finally  fell  before  the  rapidly 
growing  strength  and  influence  of  Giovanni  de' 
Medici,  whose  fortune  and  extensive  banking  inter- 
ests throughout  Central  and  Northern  Italy,  and 
even  in  Rome  and  Switzerland,  made  it  possible 
for  him  to  wield  a  power  almost  irresistible.  This 
Giovanni  was  in  his  day  the  Rothschild  of  Italy. 
He  had  a  happy  way  of  making  private  liberalities 
add  to  his  prestige  in  politics,  and  he  had  learned 
the  art  of  using  political  prestige  for  the  purpose 
of  bringing  florins  to  his  banks.  Great  financial 
advantage  came  to  him  through  his  friendly  rela- 
tions with  the  papal  court.  When  Pope  John 
XXIII  went  to  the  Council  of  Constance,  Giovanni 
accompanied  him;  and  through  pontifical  prefer- 
ment had  charge  of  the  banking  interests  of  the 
council.  This  was  a  source  of  immense  revenue 
for  the  rich  banker.  On  returning  to  Florence,  his 
wealth  vastly  increased,  Giovanni  was  more  care- 
ful than  ever  to  augment  his  popularity  by  liberal 
giving.  Individuals  were  helped  by  him,  churches 
and  charitable  institutions  were  in  some  instances 
almost  dependent  upon  him,  and  in  critical  mo- 
ments he  came  to  the  relief  of  the  government 
itself.  There  were  whispers  of  "conscience  money" 
at  times,  but  Giovanni  was  doing  much  for  the 
glory  of  Florence,  and  the  wealthy  banker  was  not 
seriously  hurt  by  small  criticism. 

It  ought  to  be  kept  in  mind  that  the  Medici 
did  not  at  any  time  rule  in  Florence  as  the  Este 


LORENZO  AND  His  CITY.  65 

did  in  Ferrara,  or  the  Sforza  in  Milan.  They  were 
not  officers  of  the  government  at  all.  They  were 
the  power  behind  the  government.  They  were 
known  simply  as  citizens ;  but  their  power  was  rec- 
ognized everywhere  as  absolute. 

On  the  death  of  Giovanni,  Cosimo  his  son,  af- 
terwards known  as  the  "Father  of  his  Country," 
was  banished  from  the  city.  But  even  in  banish- 
ment his  name  and  power  were  such  that  he  was 
everywhere  treated  as  a  royal  guest.  He  enriched 
every  city  he  visited.  His  stay  in  Venice  was  cele- 
brated by  building  a  library  for  the  Benedictines. 
Michelozzo  was  the  architect.  In  less  than  a  year 
a  Signory  was  chosen  in  Florence  favorable  to  the 
Medici,  and  Cosimo  returned  to  his  native  city, 
"carried  back,"  as  he  said,  "to  his  country  upon  the 
shoulders  of  all  Italy."  He  saw  the  house  of 
the  Albizzi  in  ruins,  and  entered  in  triumph  his 
own  palace  in  the  Via  Larga.  Florence  was  now 
in  the  firm  grasp  of  the  "thin  dark-faced  mer- 
chant." For  three  whole  centuries,  dating  from  this 
triumphant  entry,  the  history  of  Florence  was  con- 
nected with  that  of  the  house  of  Medici. 

The  foreign  policy  inaugurated  by  Cosimo  was 
something  entirely  new  for  Florence.  He  began 
by  devising  plans  to  put  a  stop  to  the  wars  which 
for  so  long  had  been  devastating  fair  Italy.  First 
of  all,  he  allied  himself  with  the  house  of  Sforza 
in  Milan,  giving  lavishly  of  his  money  to  make 
strong  his  hold  upon  so  important  a  city.  The 
understanding  between  Florence  and  Milan  was  not 
looked  upon  with  favor  by  the  Florentine  people; 
nor  did  they  regard  with  more  favor  the  agreement 
5 


66  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

entered  into  later  with  Naples.  But  this  triple 
alliance,  as  against  Rome  and  Venice,  did  much  to 
preserve  the  balance  of  power  in  Italy  for  many 
years. 

Cosimo  was  a  successful  man  of  business,  an 
ideal  husband  and  father,  and  apparently  a  kindly 
fellow-citizen  to  all.  He  was  particularly  fond  of 
the  society  of  artists  and  men  of  letters;  Brunel- 
leschi  and  Michelozzo,  Donatello  and  Fra  Filippo 
Lippi,  to  name  only  a  few  intimately  connected 
with  him,  found  in  him  the  most  generous  and  de- 
serving of  patrons.  Many  of  the  early  Renaissance 
churches  and  convents  in  Florence  and  its  neigh- 
borhood were  built  through  his  munificence.  San 
Lorenzo,  San  Marco,  and  the  Badia  of  Fiesole,  are 
the  most  typical.  He  even  founded  a  hospital  in 
Jerusalem.  Why  should  one  complain  of  the  busi- 
ness or  political  methods  of  a  man  so  generous  and 
public  spirited  ?  One  of  the  remarks  of  this  shrewd 
and  far-sighted  merchant-prince,  when  it  was  gently 
hinted  that  he  was  putting  much  money  into  public 
buildings,  was  this:  "I  know  the  humors  of  this 
city ;  fifty  years  will  not  pass  before  we  are  driven 
out;  but  the  buildings  will  remain." 

It  was  Cosimo,  as  previously  stated,  who 
founded  the  great  library  in  San  Marco.  He  did 
much  for  letters.  The  new  learning  commanded 
his  admiration  and  generous  support.  "To 
Cosimo,"  says  Burkhardt,  "belongs  the  special 
glory  of  recognizing  in  the  Platonic  philosophy  the 
fairest  flower  of  the  ancient  world  of  thought,  of 
inspiring  his  friends  with  the  same  belief,  and  thus 
of  fostering  within  humanistic  circles  themselves 


LORENZO  AND  His  CITY.  67 

another  and  higher  resuscitation  of  antiquity."  It 
was  Cosimo  who  founded  the  far-famed  Platonic 
Academy  of  Florence,  the  center  of  the  richest 
Italian  thought  of  the  century. 

Cosimo  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  Piero,  a  man 
of  shattered  health,  who  had  little  taste  for  gov- 
ernment. His  rule  was  short.  He  died  in  1469, 
and  was  buried  in  the  sacristy  of  San  Lorenzo.  A 
beautiful  monument  by  Verrochio  marks  the  spot. 

The  reigns  of  government  were  now  taken  up 
by  his  eldest  son,  the  brilliant  young  Lorenzo,  a 
man  of  quite  different  type  from  his  father.  "The 
second  day  after  the  death  of  my  father,"  writes 
Lorenzo  in  his  diary,  "although  I,  Lorenzo,  was 
very  young,  in  fact  only  in  my  twenty-first  year, 
the  leading  men  of  the  city  and  of  the  ruling  party 
came  to  our  house  to  express  their  sorrow  for  our 
misfortune,  and  to  persuade  me  to  take  upon  myself 
the  charge  of  the  government  of  the  city,  as  my 
grandfather  and  father  had  already  done.  This 
proposal  being  contrary  to  the  instincts  of  my  age, 
and  entailing  great  labor  and  danger,  I  accepted 
against  my  will,  and  only  for  the  sake  of  protect- 
ing my  friends  and  our  fortunes,  for  in  Florence 
one  can  ill  live  in  the  possession  of  wealth  without 
control  of  the  government." 

There  are  three  paintings  in  Florence  strikingly 
suggestive  of  the  life  of  Lorenzo.  The  first  is  a 
fresco  by  Benozzo  Gozzoli.  It  represents  him  as  a 
gallant  boy  in  the  Riccardi  palace,  the  palace  of 
his  father  and  grandfather,  riding  under  a  bay  tree 
and  crowned  with  roses.  The  second  is  Botti- 
celli's famous  Adoration  of  the  Magi,  in  which 


68  GiROivAMo  SAVONAROLA. 

Lorenzo  is  seen  in  the  prime  of  early  manhood. 
The  third  is  what  Gardner  describes  as  "that  truly 
terrible  picture  of  Vasari  in  the  Uffizi."  In  this 
painting  Lorenzo  is  fully  developed,  the  omniscient 
and  all-embracing  tyrant.  Lorenzo's  face,  as  seen 
here,  is  as  eloquent  a  protest  against  the  iniquity 
of  tyranny  as  can  be  found  in  the  pages  of  the 
most  "terrible"  of  Savonarola's  sermons. 

Lorenzo's  determination  to  be  the  absolute  mas- 
ter of  Florence  was  apparent  from  the  beginning. 
He  took  pains  to  strengthen  the  alliance  with  the 
ruling  house  in  Milan.  After  the  failure  of  the 
Pazzi  conspiracy  he  acted  with  tyrannical  prompt- 
ness, and  in  such  a  way  as  to  leave  himself  "se- 
curely enthroned  above  the  splash  of  blood."  At 
great  personal  risk  he  went  voluntarily  to  Naples 
and  made  peace  with  Ferdinand,  the  infamous 
tyrant  of  that  city.  It  has  been  suggested,  and 
probably  with  good  reason,  that  Botticelli's  noble 
allegory  of  the  olive-decked  "Pallas  Taming  the 
Centaur"  of  war  and  disorder  appears  to  have  been 
painted  in  commemoration  of  this  event.  By  a 
change  in  the  laws,  through  which  a  Council  of 
Seventy  was  created  to  control  the  election  of  the 
Signory,  the  government  was  placed  absolutely  in 
Lorenzo's  hands.  The  older  councils  still  remained 
and  the  Republican  form  of  government  was  con- 
tinued. Had  Lorenzo  lived  longer,  changes  might 
have  been  introduced,  but  for  the  time  being  he 
had  everything  he  needed.  Besides,  the  people 
were  satisfied  and  that  counted  for  something.  It 
made  government  easier.  "Florence,"  writes  Guic- 
ciardini,  "could  not  have  had  a  better  or  more  de- 
lightful tyrant." 


LORENZO  AND  His  CITY.  69 

Lorenzo  won  great  reputation  through  his  for- 
eign policy.  The  East  and  the  West  united  to 
praise  him.  The  sultan  honored  him  with  pres- 
ents, and  sent  ambassadors  to  declare  his  friend- 
ship ;  Egypt  did  the  same ;  the  princes  of  Germany 
treated  him  as  an  equal ;  so  also  did  the  King  of 
France.  When  foreign  invasion  was  imminent, 
Lorenzo  succeeded  in  preserving  the  balance  of 
power  between  the  five  great  Italian  States,  so  that 
they  might  present  a  united  front  against  a  com- 
mon foe.  If  Lorenzo  had  had  his  grandfather's 
genius  for  making  money,  and  for  the  management 
of  large  financial  interests,  he  could  have  done  more 
for  the  State  than  he  did.  But  he  seems  to  have 
had  no  care  for  commercial  affairs  at  all,  and  his 
large  inherited  fortune  provided  small  income  with 
which  to  gratify  his  tastes.  He  sometimes  found 
it  necessary  to  help  himself  from  the  public  purse ; 
and  he  did  it  without  showing  any  such  public 
spirit  as  Cosimo.  This  element  of  weakness  in 
Lorenzo  ought  to  be  kept  in  mind,  as  it  led  to 
much  suspicion  in  many  quarters.  His  strained 
relations  with  Pope  Sixtus  IV  have  already  been 
referred  to.  Reference  has  also  been  made  to  the 
increased  power  which  came  to  him  through  the 
failure  of  the  conspiracy  of  the  Pazzi.  On  the 
whole  Florence  under  Lorenzo's  administration  was 
prosperous.  The  industries,  the  commerce,  and  the 
public  works  of  the  city,  were  the  delight  of  the 
prosperity-loving  Florentines.  Even  the  peasantry 
were  far  more  comfortably  situated  than  in  neigh- 
boring republics. 

When  Pope  Innocent  VIII  came  to  the  papal 


yo  GiROivAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

throne  Lorenzo  made  friends  with  him,  and 
through  this  friendship  obtained  a  cardinal's  hat 
for  his  son  Giovanni,  then  only  fourteen  years  of 
age.  This  boy-cardinal  afterwards  became  Pope 
Leo  X,  whose  bull  Martin  Luther  burned  at  Wit- 
tenberg. 

The  crowning  glory  of  Lorenzo's  rule  in  Flor- 
ence was  his  patronage  of  letters  and  art.  His 
own  palace  was  turned  into  a  school,  and  was  made 
the  resort  of  illustrious  men  from  all  parts  of  the 
world.  It  was  here  that  Ficino,  Poliziano,  and 
Pico  della  Mirandola  conversed  concerning  the 
noble  thoughts  of  Plato  and  Aristotle.  It  was 
here,  too,  that  Michael  Angelo  began  to  try  his 
chisel.  But  Lorenzo  was  more  than  a  patron.  His 
distinction  as  compared  with  every  other  Maecenas 
known  to  history,  lay  in  his  active  participation  in 
the  intellectual  labors  he  promoted.  He  was  one 
of  the  leading  spirits  among  the  literati  of  his  time, 
and  was  a  prose  writer  of  no  mean  ability.  It  is 
to  his  lasting  fame  that  he  was  a  leader  in  the 
movement  to  break  away  from  the  erudite  lan- 
guage of  scholars  and  revive  the  national  literature. 
This  was  done  by  recurring  to  the  primitive  sources 
of  the  spoken  tongue  and  popular  verse.  He  was 
one  of  the  first  to  raise  popular  poetry  to  the  dig- 
nity of  art.  True,  he  prostituted  his  powers  by 
writing  lewd  carnival  songs  to  be  sung  on  the 
streets  by  the  young  nobles,  and  all  this  for  the 
purpose  of  corrupting  the  people,  that  they  might 
not  know  to  what  extent  they  had  lost  their  lib- 
erties. 

The  many-sidedness  of  Lorenzo,  the  good  here 


LORENZO  AND  His  CITY.  71 

and  the  bad  there,  is  still  a  perplexity.  The  strange 
contrasts  in  the  life  of  the  man  are  as  unintelligible 
as  they  are  striking.  He  was  equally  at  home,  so 
it  is  said,  in  the  Platonic  academy  disputing  on 
the  nature  of  virtue,  in  the  society  of  artists  dis- 
cussing the  theory  of  beauty  and  its  exemplifica- 
tion in  the  creations  of  the  Italian  painters  and 
sculptors,  in  the  garden  of  San  Marco  contem- 
plating with  satisfaction  his  own  work  in  advanc- 
ing at  once  the  fine  arts  and  the  interests  of  religion, 
and  in  the  carnival  joining  in  the  wildest  orgies 
of  its  votaries.  Villari  is  authority  for  the  state- 
ment that  after  hours  of  strenuous  labor  over  some 
new  law,  framed  to  crush  any  lingering  remains 
of  liberty,  or  after  passing  some  new  decree  of 
confiscation  or  sentence  of  death,  he  would  repair 
to  the  Platonic  Academy  and  take  part  in  heated 
discussions  on  virtue  and  the  immortality  of  the 
soul;  then  go  about  the  town  to  sing  his  "Canti 
Carnascialeschi"  in  the  company  of  dissolute 
youths  and  indulge  in  the  lowest  debauchery. 
After  this  he  would  return  home,  receiving  Pico 
and  Ppliziano  at  his  table,  and  vie  with  them  in 
reciting  verses  and  discoursing  on  the  poetic  art; 
and  whatever  was  the  occupation  of  the  moment, 
he  threw  himself  into  it  as  heartily  as  though  it 
were  the  sole  purpose  of  his  life. 

Nothing  gave  greater  distinction  to  the  Flor- 
ence of  Lorenzo's  day  than  the  Platonic  Academy. 
This,  it  will  be  remembered,  was  not  created  by 
him,  but  by  his  grandfather,  Cosimo.  Lorenzo 
did,  however,  take  great  pride  in  the  academy,  and 
fostered  it  in  every  possible  way.  He  was  himself 


72  GiROivAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

an  earnest  student  of  Plato  and  found  much  de- 
light in  the  discussions  which  went  on  in  his  fa- 
vorite School  of  Philosophers. 

The  purpose  in  founding  the  academy  was  to 
establish  in  Florence  a  rival  of  the  ancient  academy 
which  had  won  such  glory  for  Greece,  and  had 
been  so  effective  in  propagating  Platonic  ideas. 
Marsilio  Ficino,  the  high  priest  of  the  new  "relig- 
ion of  love  and  beauty,"  had  shown  an  ardent  love 
for  Plato  even  in  boyhood,  and  had  written  works 
on  his  philosophy  while  still  a  youth  in  his  teens. 
Intrusted  with  the  presidency  of  the  academy,  he 
had  mastered  the  Greek  language,  read  the  "Doc- 
trine of  Ideas"  in  the  original,  and  made  extensive 
commentaries  on  all  Plato's  writings.  His  venera- 
tion for  the  great  Greek  philosopher  amounted  al- 
most to  worship.  He  always  kept  a  lamp  burning 
before  the  bust  of  Plato. 

The  manner  in  which  Ficino  mixed  his  Platon- 
ism  and  Christianity  was  sometimes  quite  amus- 
ing. For  instance,  in  attempting  to  demonstrate 
the  truth  of  Christ's  teaching  and  explain  His  divine 
mission,  he  uses  this  argument:  "The  coming  of 
Christ  was  frequently  prophesied  by  the  Sybils; 
the  verses  in  which  Virgil  foretold  it  are  known 
to  all.  Plato,  on  being  asked  how  long  the  pre- 
cepts of  his  philosophy  would  endure,  replied :  'Un- 
til the  coming  of  Him  by  whom  the  source  of  all 
truth  will  be  unsealed.'  Porphyry  says  in  his  Re- 
sponses: The  Gods  declare  Christ  to  be  highly 
pious  and  religious,  and  affirm  that  he  was  an  im- 
mortal, testifying  of  him  very  benignantly."  Rather 
a  doubtful  apologist  for  the  Christian  faith!  To 


LORENZO  AND  His  CITY.  73 

this  man  and  his  school  came  scholars  from  all 
parts  of  Italy,  from  the  North  and  from  the  South. 
Ambitious  students  came  also  from  Germany,  from 
France,  and  from  Spain.  The  lectures  which  Fi- 
cino  delivered  in  the  academy  were  the  subject  of 
conversation  in  every  company  of  scholars  through- 
out Europe.  Had  he  not  discovered  a  system  of 
philosophy  reconciling  Christianity  and  paganism? 
No  wonder  the  scholastic  world  did  him  honor  and 
reverence!  And  no  wonder  Florence  came  to  en- 
viable eminence  because  of  the  famous  academy 
it  fostered. 

It  was  on  the  invitation  of  Lorenzo,  tyrant  and 
philosopher,  that  Savonarola  now  turned  his  face 
toward  Florence  with  the  purpose  of  making  there 
his  permanent  home.  He  crossed  the  Apennines  on 
foot,  traversing  the  same  road  by  which  he  had 
come  eight  years  before.  It  was  a  hot  summer 
day,  and  he  was  fatigued  in  mind  and  body  as  he 
walked  toward  the  city  where  he  had  received  such 
small  welcome.  There  is  a  story  that  when  he  had 
almost  fainted  in  his  journey,  a  mysterious  stranger 
appeared  who  restored  his  courage  and  strength, 
led  him  to  a  hospice,  gave  him  food,  and  accom- 
panied him  to  Florence.  On  reaching  the  San 
Gallo  gate  the  stranger  said,  "Remember  to  do 
that  for  which  God  hath  sent  thee,"  and  then  dis- 
appeared. 

It  was  soon  told  throughout  the  city  that  the 
preaching  friar  who  had  suddenly  leaped  into  such 
fame  in  the  cities  of  the  North  was  in  Florence,  and 
that  he  had  come  at  the  expressed  wish  of  Lorenzo. 
Many  were  curious  to  hear  the  new  preacher.  But 


74  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

Savonarola  waited.  Back  in  San  Marco  again,  he 
took  up  once  more  the  instruction  of  the  novices. 
Soon  others  besides  the  novices  asked  for  the  priv- 
ilege of  hearing  him.  The  audience  increasing 
daily,  the  place  of  the  meeting  was  changed  to  the 
convent  garden.  Almost  without  his  knowing  it, 
the  lectures  were  transformed  into  sermons,  and 
the  garden  became  too  small  for  the  people  who 
desired  to  hear  him.  Urged  to  try  the  pulpit  again 
and  preach  in  the  Church,  where  larger  audiences 
might  hear  him,  he  hesitated,  and  finally  asked  that 
prayers  be  offered  that  he  might  be  wisely  guided. 
Unable  longer  to  resist  entreaty  or  satisfy  his  own 
conscience,  he  made  the  following  announcement 
one  Saturday  afternoon  in  the  cloister  garden, 
standing  under  a  damask  rose  tree.  "To-morrow 
we  will  speak  in  the  Church,  and  give  a  lecture  and 
a  sermon."  And  he  added,  so  it  is  said,  "I  shall 
preach  for  eight  years."  Was  this  prophecy  or 
coincidence?  He  did  preach  for  just  eight  years, 
and  then  his  voice  was  silenced. 

The  scene  in  the  cloister  garden  is  nowhere 
more  beautifully  described  than  in  one  of  Mrs. 
Oliphant's  appreciative  chapters.  This  gifted 
woman  seems  to  see  so  clearly  the  meaning  of  it 
all.  "Never,"  she  writes,  "was  there  a  more  touch- 
ing, tender  incongruity  than  that  perfumed  canopy 
of  bloom  above  the  dark  hair  covered  with  its  cowl. 
Beneath  the  blue  sky  that  hung  over  Florence, 
within  the  wide  square  of  the  cloister  with  all  its 
arching  pillars,  with  Angelo's  Dominic  close  by, 
kneeling  at  the  cross-foot,  and  listening,  too — this 
crowd  of  Florentines  gathered  in  the  glorious  in- 


LORENZO  AND  His  CITY.  75 

closure  encircling  the  scholars  and  their  master. 
A  painter  could  not  desire  a  more  striking  scene. 
The  roses  waving  softly  in  the  summer  air  above, 
and  the  lads  in  their  white  convent  gowns,  with 
earnest  faces  lifted  to  the  speaker — what  a  tender 
central  light  do  they  give,  soft  heart  of  the  flowers 
and  youth,  to  the  grave  scene!  For  grave  as  life 
and  death  were  the  speaker  and  the  men  that  stood 
around  and  pressed  him.  on  every  side.  Before  long 
he  had  to  consent,  which  he  did  with  reluctance, 
to  leave  this  quiet  cloister  and  return  to  the  pulpit 
where  once  his  Lombard  accent  had  brought  him 
nothing  but  contempt  and  failure.  Thus  the  first 
chapter  of  Fra  Girolamo's  history  ends,  under  the 
damask  rose-tree  in  the  warm  July  weather,  within 
those  white  cloisters  of  San  Marco.  In  the  full 
eye  of  day,  in  the  pulpit  and  the  public  places  of 
Florence,  as  prophet,  spiritual  leader,  apostle 
among  men,  was  the  next  period  of  his  life  to  be 
passed.  Here  his  probation  ends." 


CHAPTER  VII. 
A  NEW  VOICE  IN  THE  DUOMO. 

THE  day  after  the  announcement  under  the 
damask  rose-tree  in  the  cloister  garden  found  Sa- 
vonarola in  the  pulpit  of  the  Church  of  San  Marco. 
This  was  Sunday,  August  I,  1489.  The  church 
was  crowded.  Representatives  of  all  classes  im- 
proved the  opportunity  to  hear  the  preacher  whose 
name  was  now  frequently  mentioned  on  street  and 
in  market  place.  Many,  no  doubt,  who  had  gone 
away  disappointed  from  the  Church  of  San  Lorenzo 
eight  years  before,  were  now  in  San  Marco  to 
see  and  hear  for  themselves,  and  find  out,  if  pos- 
sible, what  change  had  come  over  Fra  Girolamo. 
Some  were  there  merely  to  satisfy  curiosity. 

The  series  of  sermons  begun  in  the  rose-tinted 
garden  was  continued.  The  theme  was  the  Apoca- 
lypse, and  the  preacher  was  at  his  best.  His  hour 
of  opportunity  had  come  and  he  must  improve  it. 
He  had  fought  a  hard  battle,  struggling  against 
doubts  and  fears,  but  his  decision  had  been,  made ; 
he  had  mounted  the  pulpit  that  morning  with  clear 
vision  of  duty,  and  with  firm  conviction  that  he  was 
there  as  the  ambassador  of  Jesus  Christ.  Even  be- 
fore he  spoke  the  audience  seemed  to  feel  the 
presence  of  a  strong  and  powerful  personality.  His 
voice,  it  is  said,  resounded  at  times  with  almost 
supernatural  effect.  His  intellectual  power  aston- 

76 


A   NEW  VOICE  IN  THE  DUOMO.  77 

ished  his  hearers,  and  they  were  thrilled  and  moved 
by  the  contagion  of  his  enthusiasm. 

There  was  no  doubt  about  his  mission  after 
that  morning.  The  news  of  the  new  voice  and  the 
wonderful  message  passed  from  lip  to  lip  through- 
out Florence.  Men  began  to  forsake  Plato  to  dis- 
cuss the  words  and  personality  of  the  new  preacher. 
Opinions  were  divided.  Some  declared  that  the 
preacher  was  only  a  fanatic,  who  by  his  rare  voice 
and  power  as  an  orator  swayed  the  people;  others 
went  so  far  as  to  say  that  his  was  no  eloquence  at 
all,  the  effect  on  the  crowd  being  brought  about  by 
a  combination  of  loud  words  and  striking  imagery ; 
the  men  of  the  academy  inclined  to  the  view  that 
the  preacher,  though  a  man  of  remarkable  natural 
ability,  was  after  all  unlearned  in  the  language  and 
thought  of  the  schools,  and  that  therefore  his  influ- 
ence would  only  be  transitory.  Savonarola  heard 
all  these  criticisms,  but,  in  the  pulpit  at  least,  paid 
no  attention  to  them.  What  the  academy  said  was 
undoubtedly  a  keen  thrust  which  must  have  hurt 
him.  Perhaps  this  was  what  led  him  to  take  ad- 
vantage of  printer's  ink.  He  published  now  several 
of  his  sermons,  a  tractate  on  philosophy  which  was 
in  part  a  compendium  of  his  lectures  to  the  novices, 
and  two  or  three  brief  pamphlets  on  what  he  con- 
sidered essential  theology.  Whatever  may  have 
been  his  purpose  in  issuing  these  volumes  at  this 
time,  they  certainly  had  a  wonderful  influence  in 
silencing  criticism.  The  men  of  the  academy  knew 
after  reading  these  writings  that  a  master  mind 
was  influencing  the  people  who  thronged  San 
Marco. 


78  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

It  was  just  nine  years  after  the  first  arrival  in 
Florence  that  Savonarola  entered  the  pulpit  of  the 
great  cathedral  of  the  city,  known  as  the  Duomo. 
As  lecturer  in  the  cloister  garden,  and  preacher 
in  the  Church  of  San  Marco,  his  fame  had  been 
rapidly  increasing.  The  man  and  his  sermons  had 
become  an  absorbing  topic  of  conversation.  The 
Duomo  was  now  a  necessity.  No  other  building  in 
all  Florence  was  large  enough  to  hold  the  people. 
Fra  Mariano's  day  was  done.  His  "grand  sentences 
and  periods  of  harmonious  cadence"  had  served 
their  time.  The  people  would  hear  the  new  voice. 
Earnest  looking  men  and  women  they  were  who 
crowded  into  the  Duomo.  They  were  there  to  hear 
a  preacher  who  had  eyes  to  see  the  age  in  which 
he  lived,  and  courage  to  declare  what  he  saw. 
Such  a  preacher  will  always  have  an  audience. 
Savonarola  broke  every  homiletical  rule  of  his  time. 
He  fearlessly  trampled  upon  every  oratorical  stand- 
ard set  up  by  the  professors  of  sacred  rhetoric.  In 
the  pulpit  he  cared  for  just  one  thing.  He  would 
bring  to  his  hearers  the  living  word  and  message  of 
God.  That  thing  he  did.  The  pulpit  was  his  throne. 
In  the  first  sermons  in  the  Duomo  the  people  rec- 
ognized the  new  sovereignty.  Like  the  prophets  of 
Israel  and  Judah,  he  came  with  a  message  divine. 
Amos  and  Isaiah  had  not  stronger  conviction  that 
they  spoke  by  the  command  of  Jehovah. 

The  three  famous  propositions,  which  he  had 
announced  with  such  fervor  and  burning  passion  at 
San  Gemignano,  and  later  at  Brescia,  he  now  re- 
iterated within  the  walls  of  the  great  Duomo.  First, 
the  Church  will  be  scourged.  Second,  it  will  be 


A  NEW  VOICE   IN  THE  DUOMO.  79 

regenerated.  Third,  all  this  will  come  to  pass 
speedily.  These  three  propositions  included  all  the 
themes  of  Savonarola's  preaching.  The  necessity 
for  the  impending  scourge  he  saw  in  the  unblush- 
ing immorality,  widespread  skepticism,  and  intoler- 
able oppression  of  the  times.  The  scourge,  he  said, 
would  come  upon  all.  The  immoral  literati  he 
condemned  as  unsparingly  as  he  did  the  corrupt 
contadini.  He  attacked  the  gambler  of  the  palace, 
the  parlor,  and  the  club  with  as  fierce  invective  as 
he  did  the  dice-thrower  of  the  street.  The  money- 
lenders, with  their  unjust  bargains  and  cruel  exac- 
tions, he  denounced  with  scathing  words.  "Chil- 
dren of  the  devil,"  he  branded  them. 

The  democracy  of  Savonarola's  preaching  was 
apparent  from  the  beginning.  He  threw  himself 
with  tremendous  enthusiasm  against  the  idea  that 
there  is  one  standard  for  the  religious  life,  another 
for  social  life,  and  still  another  for  political  life.  In 
his  philosophy  and  Christian  teaching  they  were  all 
one.  Religious,  social,  and  political  life,  all  were 
one  before  God!  What  he  wanted,  and  no  think- 
ing man  heard  him  without  feeling  that  what  he 
wanted  was  right,  was  to  bring  Christianity  down 
into  the  market-place,  to  apply  its  principles  in  so- 
ciety, and  to  bring  political  life  into  harmony  with 
its  standards.  The  skepticism  and  corrupt  lives  of 
the  men  recognized  as  leaders  in  the  academy  and 
in  the  government  of  Florence  he  condemned  un- 
sparingly. 

The  enthusism  and  excitement  created  by  his 
sermons  seem  to  have  led  Savonarola  to  ques- 
tion whether  he  had  not  undertaken  too  great  a 


8o  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

program.  He  had  spoken  awful  words  concerning 
the  judgments  of  God  which  would  come  upon  the 
wicked  city  of  Florence.  He  had  told  the  people, 
on  the  authority  of  reason,  on  the  authority  of  the 
Bible,  and  on  the  authority  of  the  visions  of  the 
Lord  which  had  come  to  him,  that  the  gilded  vice 
of  the  city  must  be  put  away  and  Florence  purged 
of  its  corruptions,  or  the  fierce  judgments  of  the 
Almighty  would  come  upon  the  people  and  the 
wrath  of  outraged  Heaven  smite  them.  Perhaps 
he  had  gone  too  far!  In  a  book  published  later, 
entitled  "A  Compendium  of  Revelations,"  he  de- 
scribes the  great  miseries  of  soul  experienced  dur- 
ing the  second  week  of  these  Lenten  sermons.  He 
tells  how  all  that  kept  him  from  his  principal  study 
became  quickly  distasteful,  and  that  whenever  he 
thought  of  entering  upon  another  path,  he  became 
instantly  hateful  to  himself.  "I  remember,"  he 
writes,  "when  I  was  preaching  in  the  Duomo  in 
1491,  and  had  already  composed  my  sermon  upon 
these  visions,  I  determined  to  omit  all  mention  of 
them,  and  never  recur  to  the  subject  again.  God  is 
my  witness  how  I  watched  and  prayed  the  whole  of 
Saturday  and  throughout  the  night;  but  all  other 
ways,  all  doctrines  save  this,  were  denied  me. 
Towards  break  of  dawn,  being  weary  and  dejected 
by  my  long  vigil,  I  heard,  as  I  prayed,  a  voice  say- 
ing to  me :  'Fool,  dost  thou  not  see  that  it  is  God's 
will  that  thou  shouldst  continue  in  the  same  path?' 
Wherefore  that  day  I  preached  a  terrible  sermon." 
An  autograph  summary  of  this  sermon  is  still 
preserved  in  the  museum  of  San  Marco.  It  is 
bound  in  a  codex  with  a  number  of  others  preached 


A  NEW  VOICE  IN  THE  DUOMO.  81 

the  same  year.  One  of  the  most  striking  passages 
in  it  is  an  arraignment  of  the  clergy.  Terrible 
words,  indeed,  are  used  by  the  fearless  preacher. 
He  describes  how  the  greed  of  gold  has  led  the 
clergy  to  forget  the  inner  life  of  the  spirit;  the 
outer  ceremonies  of  the  Church,  in  which  there  is 
for  them  traffic  and  gold,  these  they  gave  careful 
attention  to;  the  services  of  the  Church  which 
most  minister  to  the  spiritual  life,  but  in  which 
there  is  no  opportunity  for  gain,  these  they  neglect. 
"Fathers,"  said  he,  "make  sacrifice  to  this  false 
idol,  urging  their  sons  to  enter  the  ecclesiastical 
life,  in  order  to  obtain  benefices  and  prebends ;  and 
thus  ye  hear  it  said,  'Blessed  is  the  house  that  owns 
a  fat  cure.'  But  I  say  unto  you  a  time  will  come 
when  rather  it  will  be  said,  Woe  to  that  house ;  and 
ye  will  feel  the  edge  of  the  sword  upon  you.  Do 
as  I  bid  you;  rather  let  your  sons  follow  the  way 
of  all  others,  than  undertake  the  religious  life  for 
gain.  In  these  days  there  is  no  grace,  no  gift  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  that  may  not  be  bought  and  sold. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  poor  are  oppressed  by 
grievous  burdens,  and  when  they  are  called  to  pay 
sums  beyond  their  means,  the  rich  cry  unto  them, 
Give  me  the  rest.  There  be  some  who,  having  but 
an  income  of  fifty,  pay  a  tax  of  one  hundred,  while 
the  rich  pay  little,  since  the  taxes  are  imposed  at 
their  pleasure.  When  widows  come  weeping,  they 
are  bidden  to  go  to  sleep.  When  the  poor  com- 
plain, they  are  told  to  pay  and  pay  again." 

This   paragraph   is   characteristic.      Savonarola 
scorned  the  idea  of  taking  up  the  ecclesiastical  life 
for  the  money  there  was  in  it,  and  looked  with 
6 


82  GiROivAMo  SAVONAROLA. 

horror  upon  the  buying  and  selling  of  the  gifts  of 
God.  He  had  a  heart  of  sympathy  for  the  op- 
pressed; the  widows  and  orphans  commanded  his 
care  and  help ;  but  the  rich,  in  their  heartless  dis- 
criminations and  injustices,  he  condemned.  "Bethink 
ye  well,  O  rich,  for  affliction  shall  smite  you.  This 
city  shall  no  more  be  called  Florence,  but  a  den  of 
thieves,  of  turpitude  and  bloodshed.  Then  shall 
you  all  be  poverty  stricken,  all  wretched,  and  your 
name,  O  priests,  shall  be  changed  into  a  terror.  I 
sought  no  longer  to  speak  in  thy  name,  O  Lord; 
but  Thou  hast  overpowered  me,  hast  conquered  me. 
Thy  word  has  become  like  unto  a  fire  within  me, 
consuming  the  very  marrow  of  my  bones.  There- 
fore, I  am  derided  and  despised  of  my  people.  But 
I  cried  unto  the  Lord  day  and  night,  and  I  say 
unto  you,  I  know  that  unheard  of  times  are  at 
hand." 

It  is  clear  from  the  above  passage  that  the 
preacher  had  definite  knowledge  of  what  the  bad 
leadership  of  Florence  actually  was.  The  rich  cared 
nothing  for  the  liberties  of  the  people,  and  the 
highest  ambition  of  the  priests  was  personal  gain. 
What  could  be  hoped  for  from  such  leadership  as 
this  ?  Savonarola  acknowledged  that  there  was  small 
chance  of  getting  many  converts  to  his  views.,  but 
he  was  God's  prophet,  and  must  needs  speak  the 
message  which  had  been  given  him.  "When  Jesus 
came  to  redeem  the  world  He  found  hearers  in 
-Judea  alone,  and  even  there  the  faithful  were  few, 
but  He  called  them  to  Him  on  the  mount,  and  after- 
wards, by  their  means  He  transformed  the  human 
race."  "You  forsake  me,  deride  me,"  said  he,  "yet 


A  NEW  VOICE  IN  THE  DUOMO.  83 

shall  I  gain  a  few  disciples,  who  will  give  all  up 
for  Christ's  sake.  They  will  ask  neither  benefices 
nor  prebends ;  will  accept  neither  gifts  nor  alms  but 
only  their  daily  bread.  They  will  dress  like  the 
poor ;  they  will  not  seek  the  great ;  they  will  not 
run  after  the  magistrates  in  the  palace;  they  will 
not  build  up  houses ;  they  will  not  visit  women  daily 
to  carry  them  images  and  rosaries;  they  will  be 
truthful ;  they  will  climb  the  mount  of  faith ;  they 
will  have  revelations  from  heaven  and  more  learn- 
ing, not  however,  the  learning  of  Scotus  or  the 
poets,  but  that  of  their  own  conscience  and  of  Holy 
Writ."  In  this  description  of  the  type  of  disciples 
Savonarola  desired  to  create,  one  is  reminded  of  the 
poor  priests  of  John  Wyclif  who  introduced  into 
England  a  new  type  of  parson,  the  type  immortal- 
ized by  Chaucer  in  the  lines : 

"  Christes  lore  and  His  apostles  twelve 
He  taught,  but  first  He  followed  it  himselve." 

These  Lenten  sermons  gave  to  Savonarola  un- 
disputed claim  to  the  one  great  pulpit  of  Florence. 
His  mastership  and  spiritual  leadership  in  this  pul- 
pit were  acknowledged  by  all.  The  men  who  had 
been  the  recognized  leaders  of  Florence  were,  it 
is  true,  secretly  against  him.  They  saw,  as  Savon- 
arola saw,  that  an  irresistible  conflict  was  bound  to 
take  place ;  nay  was  now  on.  In  March,  of  this 
year  he  wrote  a  significant  letter  to  Fra  Dominico 
who  was  then  preaching  at  Pisa.  This  Dominico 
was  one  of  his  most  faithful  followers,  and  a  man 
whose  later  devotion  and  loyalty  shine  out  most 
gloriously.  "Our  work,"  he  says,  in  this  letter, 


84  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

"goes  on  well,  for  God  helps  marvelously,  although 
the  chief  men  of  the  city  are  against  us,  and  many 
feel  that  we  may  meet  with  the  fate  of  Fra  Ber- 
nardino. I  have  faith  in  the  Lord ;  He  gives  me 
daily  greater  courage  and  perseverance.  I  preach 
the  regeneration  of  the  Church,  taking  the  Scrip- 
tures as  my  sole  guide.  Be  of  good  cheer  and  re- 
turn quickly,  that  I  may  tell  you  the  marvelous 
deeds  of  the  Lord."  The  fate  of  Fra  Bernardino, 
here  referred  to,  was  exile.  He  had  preached 
against  usury  and  paid  the  penalty  of  being  driven 
from  the  city. 

As  an  evidence  of  the  wonderful  popularity  to 
which  Savonarola  came  as  a  result  of  his  first 
preaching  in  the  Duomo,  he  was  invited  in  April 
to  preach  a  sermon  before  the  Signory  in  the 
Palazzo  Vecchio.  The  Signory  was  the  governing 
council  of  Florence.  "I  am  here,"  he  said,  in  be- 
ginning this  address  to  the  city  fathers,  "I  am  here 
in  the  waters  of  Tiberias."  "In  the  presence  of  the 
Signory  I  do  not  feel  master  of  myself  as  in  a 
church.  Therefore,  I  am  constrained  to  be  more 
measured  and  urbane,  even  as  Christ  in  the  house 
of  the  Pharisees.  I  must  tell  you,  then,  that  all  the 
evil  and  all  the  good  of  the  city  depend  from  its 
head ;  and,  therefore,  great  is  his  responsibility  even 
for  small  sins,  since,,  if  he  followed  the  right  path, 
the  whole  city  would  be  sanctified.  We,  therefore, 
must  fish  in  this  sea  with  nets  that  can  hold  the 
smallest  fish,  nor  must  we  employ  overmuch  cau- 
tion, but,  on  the  contrary,  speak  frankly  and  openly. 
Tyrants  are  incorrigible  because  they  are  proud, 
because  they  love  flattery,  and  because  they  will  not 
restore  ill-gotten  gains.  They  leave  all  in  the  hands 


A  NEW  VOICE  IN  THE  DUOMO.  85 

of  bad  ministers;  they  succumb  to  flattery;  they 
hearken  not  unto  the  poor,  and  neither  do  they  con- 
demn the  rich;  they  expect  the  poor  and  the  peas- 
antry to  work  for  them  without  regard,  or  suffer 
their  ministers  to  expect  this;  they  corrupt  voters, 
and  farm  out  the  taxes  to  aggravate  the  burdens 
of  the  people.  You  must,  therefore,  remove  dis- 
sensions, do  justice,  and  exact  honesty  from  all." 
The  reference  here  to  the  incorrigibility  of  tyrants 
was  in  such  plain  terms,  that  his  auditors  could  not 
fail  to  discover  that  the  words  were  aimed  against 
their  favorite,  Lorenzo.  But  the  very  audacity  of 
the  preacher  only  served  to  increase  his  fame. 

In  July  following  he  was  elected  Prior  of  San 
Marco.  He  was  thus  master  of  the  leading  pulpit 
of  Florence  and  of  the  leading  monastery.  Now 
happened  an  event  which  made  it  clearer  than  ever 
that  a  new  leader  had  come  to  the  city  of  the  Medici. 
It  was  the  custom  that  when  a  new  Prior  of  San 
Marco  was  appointed,  he  must  go  to  the  Riccardi 
palace  and  pay  his  respects  and  vow  allegiance  to 
the  leading  representative  of  the  house  through 
whose  munificence  the  monastery  had  been  built, 
and  through  which  it  had  so  largely  benefited.  This 
Savonarola  did  not  do.  When  leaders  among  the 
friars,  fearing  for  him  and  for  the  monastery  be- 
cause of  the  position  he  was  taking,  came  to  him 
and  urged  that  he  pay  a  visit  to  Lorenzo,  he  said, 
"I  consider  that  my  election  is  owed  to  God,  and  to 
Him  alone  will  I  vow  obedience."  When  Lorenzo 
heard  of  this  he  was  indignant,  and  said  sarcastic- 
ally to  the  informer  who  brought  the  news,  "A 
stranger  has  come  into  my  house,  yet  he  will  not 
stoop  to  pay  me  a  visit."  But  no  sarcastic  word  of 


86  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

Lorenzo  could  hurt  the  fame  of  the  new  preacher. 
He  was  rapidly  becoming  known  as  the  master 
spirit  of  Florence.  His  sermons  attracted  increas- 
ingly large  audiences. 

No  one  has  ever  been  able  to  describe  Savon- 
arola's preaching.  No  one  can.  During  the  days  of 
his  supremacy,  the  pulpit  of  the  Duomo  was  the 
strongest  center  of  influence  in  Italy.  All  classes 
were  held  by  the  matchless  preacher.  Scholars  and 
artists,  artisans  and  politicians,  nobility  and  conta- 
dini,  acknowledged  the  greatness  of  his  message  and 
the  mighty  power  of  his  words.  From  the  sur- 
rounding villages  and  from  distant  cities  the  people 
thronged  to  hear  him.  All  night  they  walked  from 
their  homes;  and  stood  in  the  gray  dawn  before  the 
Duomo  waiting  for  the  hour  when  the  doors  would 
open.  No  business  was  transacted  in  any  street  of 
Florence  until  after  the  sermon.  Crowded  in  the 
nave,  in  the  aisles,  and  in  the  transepts  of  the  great 
building;  sitting  on  tiers  of  temporary  seats  built 
up  against  the  walls  of  the  nave,  perched  upon  pil- 
lars or  hanging  under  the  archways  to  catch  a  bet- 
ter view  of  the  preacher's  face,  the  people  waited 
for  the  hour  of  the  sermon.  In  prayer  they  waited 
or  chanted  with  the  choir  the  Psalm  or  Litany. 

When  at  last  the  preacher  stood  in  his  pulpit, 
his  white  robe  marking  him  a  conspicuous  figure 
in  the  dimly  lighted  Duomo,  every  face  was  pressed 
a  little  nearer,  and  every  ear  listened  to  catch  the 
first  word.  The  Bible  was  at  last  opened.  The 
text  was  announced  with  a  voice  that  reached  the 
farthest  man  standing  at  the  end  of  the  longest 
aisle.  The  preacher  wandered  for  a  time,  in  what 
seemed  a  very  wilderness  of  heterogenous  ideas. 


A  NSW  VOICE  IN  THE  DUOMO.  87 

Theology,  politics,  morals,  and  religion,  were  all 
brought  into  contribution.  Suddenly  the  theme 
touches  some  point  of  living  interest  to  himself  and 
his  hearers.  Fancy  begins  to  play.  The  voice 
swells.  There  is  new  animation  in  gesture.  Every 
part  of  the  body  seems  to  move  responsive  to  the 
touch  of  some  inward  passion.  Now  the  preacher 
feels  an  arm  of  strength,  which  will  strike  a  blow 
at  "the  spreading  wings!"  Images  colossal  rise 
before  the  spell-bound  audience.  Then  lightning 
flashes.  Thunder  is  heard,  and  in  crashing  bolts. 
Large  rain  drops  begin  to  fall.  The  fury  of  the 
storm  is  upon  them !  The  voice  of  the  preacher 
reverberates  to  the  farthest  corner  of  the  Duomo 
with  the  thunder  of  God's  wrath.  "The  vengeance 
of  the  eternal  God  is  hot!  From  peasant  to  pope, 
he  will  strike  sin  and  break  corruption  in  pieces." 
In  all  parts  of  the  Duomo  men  fall  upon  the  marble 
floor.  In  terror  they  hide  their  faces.  Dread  horror 
fills  the  place. 

Then  there  is  silence.  The  stern  look  fades  from 
the  preacher's  face :  his  eyes,  softened  and  suffused, 
seem  lost  in  some  infinite  beauty  hanging  there  in 
the  great  dome  above  him!  When  he  speaks  his 
voice  is  full  of  sweetness  and  tenderness,  as  he  de- 
scribes the  infinite  mercy  of  God  and  His  love. 
Now  it  is  that  the  reporter's  pencil  falls  from  his 
fingers.  He  is  overcome  with  agitation.  The 
friends  of  the  preacher  think  they  see  the  Madonna 
standing  by  his  side.  And  above  his  head  a  chorus 
of  angels,  filling  the  dome,  and  hovering  under  the 
ceilings  of  nave  and  aisle  and  transept!  The  mul- 
titude is  melted.  The  arches  above  hear  only  sobs, 
and  look  only  upon  weeping. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 
THE   MIGHTIEST   MAN   OF   FLORENCE. 

IT  is  not  strange  that  the  preaching  which  the 
people  were  hearing  in  the  Duomo  was  displeasing 
to  the  man  in  the  Medici  palace.  Such  preaching 
has  always  been  displeasing  to  tyrants  and  political 
bosses,  and  to  leaders  of  all  sorts  who  are  corrupters 
of  the  morals  of  the  people.  Lorenzo  knew  that  the 
doctrine  of  Fra  Girolamo  put  into  practice  would 
mean  his  overthrow.  He  must  bring  the  new 
preacher  into  his  favor.  That  was  the  hardest  task 
that  Lorenzo  ever  attempted.  Savonarola  felt  that, 
as  Prior  of  San  Marco  and  preacher  in  the  chief 
pulpit  of  Florence,  any  recognition  of  Lorenzo,  be- 
yond the  demands  of  courtesy,  would  be  a  com- 
promise of  principle  and  fatal  to  his  cause.  But 
Lorenzo  was  shrewd  and  he  knew  how  to  win  men. 

Lorenzo  began,  after  the  true  fashion  of  the 
politician,  by  showing  unusual  courtesies.  He  went 
frequently  to  hear  mass  in  the  Church  of  San 
Marco.  He  walked  one  day  in  the  cloister  garden. 
The  monks  were  delighted  that  their  monastery  was 
honored  by  the  presence  of  so  noble  a  guest.  They 
ran  excitedly  to  the  prior's  cell  to  tell  him  of 
Lorenzo's  presence.  "Did  he  inquire  for  me?" 
asked  the  serious-faced  preacher,  looking  up  from 
his  annotations.  "No,"  they  said.  "If  he  did  not 
ask  for  me,"  answered  Savonarola,  "let  him  go  or 

88 


MIGHTIEST  MAN  OF  FLORENCE.  89 

stay  at  his  pleasure."  This  was  all  the  reply. 
Nothing  daunted,  Lorenzo  sent  rich  gifts  to  the 
convent.  The  only  allusion  to  the  large  benefac- 
tions was  in  a  sermon,  when  the  preacher  said,  "A 
faithful  dog  does  not  give  up  barking  in  his  master's 
defense  because  a  bone  is  thrown  to  him."  To  the 
delight  of  the  monks  large  pieces  of  gold  were 
found  in  the  boxes  of  the  monastery.  Savonarola, 
knowing  well  enough  where  they  came  from,  or- 
dered them  sent  to  the  Good  Men  of  St.  Martin,  a 
society  whose  business  it  was  to  care  for  the  poor. 
''These  smaller  pieces,"  he  said,  "will  be  enough 
for  us." 

Failing  by  all  his  usual  methods  of  success, 
Lorenzo  now  tried  the  influence  of  a  committee. 
Five  citizens  of  noble  birth  were  instructed  to  visit 
San  Marco  to  induce  the  preacher  to  modify  his 
words.  Savonarola  received  them,  perhaps  in  the 
chapter-house  with  Angelo's  great  fresco  of  the 
Crucifixion  looking  down  upon  them.  These  men 
were  such  distinguished  citizens  of  Florence  that  it 
is  worth  while  to  know  their  names.  They  were 
Domenico  Bonsi,  Guidantonio  Vespucci,  Paolo  An- 
tonio Soderini,  Bernardino  Rucellai,  and  Francesco 
Valori.  All  of  them,  with  possibly  one  exception, 
became  afterwards  the  friends  of  Savonarola,  two 
of  them  ardent  supporters  of  his  cause.  These  men, 
in  opening  the  conversation,  sought  to  give  the  im- 
pression that  they  had  come  wholly  of  their  own 
accord  and  because  of  their  love  for  the  convent. 
In  the  interests  of  the  public  good,  as  they  said, 
they  suggested,  in  a  stammering  fashion,  some  slight 
modifications  in  the  tone  of  the  Prior's  preaching. 


90  GlROLAMO   SAVONAROIvA. 

They  also  suggested  that  such  criticism  of  the 
leaders  of  Florence  as  he  had  been  indulging  in, 
might  lead  to  the  bringing  of  the  monastery  of  San 
Marco  into  disrepute.  They  went  so  far  as  to 
suggest  the  possibility  of  his  not  being  allowed 
longer  to  preach,  and  even  hinted  at  banishment. 
"Lorenzo  sent  you  here,"  said  Savonarola.  "Go 
tell  him  to  repent.  I  fear  no  sentence  of  banish- 
ment, for  this  city  of  yours  is  like  a  mustard  seed 
on  the  earth.  But  the  new  doctrine  shall  triumph, 
and  the  old  shall  fall.  Although  I  be  a  stranger 
and  he  a  citizen,  and  the  first  in  the  city,  I  shall 
stay,  while  he  will  depart."  The  monk  could  not 
be  bought.  To  the  amazement  of  Lorenzo  he  had 
at  last  found  a  preacher  who  was  incorruptible. 

Savonarola's  peculiar  ascendency  over  the 
monks  under  his  spiritual  care  was  such  as  few 
men  have  ever  known.  His  method  was  to  be  very 
frank  with  them,  to  open  his  heart  and  tell  them  of 
his  inner  thought  and  his  purpose.  He  gave  them 
to  feel  that  they  knew  all  his  plans.  One  day  he 
said,  "It  is  now  twenty-seven  months  since  I  began 
to  preach  on  the  Apocalypse.  Afterwards,  being 
upon  a  hill,  I  looked  down  thence  upon  a  fortified 
city,  which  suddenly,  as  from  an  earthquake,  began 
to  totter  and  fall.  Its  inhabitants  were  quarreling 
among  themselves.  And  I  bethought  me:  This 
city  can  not  have  good  foundations,  nor  its  citizens 
charity.  I  then  went  down  into  the  valley,  and 
beheld  that  there  were  caverns  beneath  the  houses. 
I  began  instantly  to  build  a  new  city  on  the  plain, 
asking  help  from  the  men;  but  instead  of  aiding 
in  the  work,  some  carried  off  the  stones,  while 


MIGHTIEST  MAN  OF  FLORENCE.  91 

others  jeered  at  me,  and  shot  arrows  at  me  from 
the  old  walls.  Therefore,  I  would  have  withdrawn 
in  despair,  but  the  Lord  commanded  me  to  perse- 
vere." It  was  hardly  necessary  for  him  to  explain 
that  the  "arrows"  shot  at  him  from  the  old  walls 
were  the  false  teachings  of  the  clergy,  and  that  the 
"new  city"  he  was  building  was  the  city  of  the 
spiritual  life  which  would  always  be  assailed  by 
wicked  and  worldly  men.  "It  is  easy,"  he  said, 
"to  lead  men  to  the  outer  life;  to  mass,  to  confes- 
sion; but  hard  to  guide  them  to  the  inner  life  and 
dispose  them  to  grace.  It  is  necessary  to  shun  too 
many  ceremonies.  These  ceremonies  are  not  essen- 
tial, inasmuch  they  vary  for  different  times  and 
places.  The  ancients  lived  well  without  them. 
Now  by  many  ceremonies  all  is  converted  into 
sham  and  gain,  as  is  proved  by  the  universal  greed 
for  benefices.  Besides,  by  its  effect  is  the  cause 
known;  and  your  city  having  no  charity  can  not 
have  strong  foundations.  Pray  ye,  then,  in  a  fer- 
vent spirit,  so  that  the  Lord  may  give  victory  to 
the  new  doctrine.  Run  not  after  false  knowledge, 
but  examine  all  things  by  the  light  of  the  Scrip- 
tures." 

Up  to  this  time  Lorenzo  had  posed  as  a  friend 
of  Savonarola,  but  it  was  known  by  those  on  the 
inside  that  he  was  smarting  under  the  criticisms 
which  came  daily  from  the  pulpit  of  the  Duomo. 
He  bethought  himself  of  one  last  method  by  which 
he  dared  attempt  to  break  the  power  of  the  new 
preacher.  Fra  Mariano  was  asked  to  enter  the 
pulpit  again  and  take  up  the  cudgel  against  the 
Dominican  in  the  cathedral  pulpit  of  Florence, 


92  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

who  dared  so  presumptuously  to  speak  of  times  and 
seasons  and  visions.  Fra  Mariano  was  glad  to 
accept  the  invitation.  He  undoubtedly  felt,  and 
rather  keenly,  too,  his  own  loss  of  prestige  since 
the  whole  city  had  gone  after  Savonarola.  It  was 
announced,  therefore,  that  on  Ascension  Day  Fra 
Mariano  would  preach,  in  his  own  convent  church 
at  San  Gallo,  from  the  words  in  Matthew,  "It  is 
not  for  you  to  know  the  times  or  the  seasons." 
No  little  excitement  was  created  by  this  announce- 
ment. It  was  talked  of  in  the  shops  and  on  the 
streets,  in  council  chambers  and  in  the  market- 
place. Lorenzo's  intimates  among  the  literati  un- 
doubtedly congratulated  him  on  his  shrewd  move 
to  break  the  power  of  his  enemy.  When  the  day 
came  the  church  was  crowded.  Most  of  the  lead- 
ing citizens  were  there.  Pico  della  Mirandola 
graced  the  occasion  by  his  presence,  Poliziano  the 
president  of  the  academy  was  there,  and  even  Lo- 
renzo, confident  of  the  crushing  defeat  the  pre- 
sumptuous prophet  of  the  Duomo  would  suffer,  was 
among  the  hearers.  It  seemed  to  be  the  general 
feeling  that  somehow  Savonarola  had  come  to  trial. 
Many  were  hoping  with  Lorenzo  that  Mariano's 
sermon  would  settle  for  good  the  visions  and 
prophecies  of  Fra  Girolamo. 

The  style  of  this  popular  court  preacher  has 
already  been  described.  Mariano  had  all  the  tricks 
of  the  persuasive  orator.  He  knew  how  to  wait 
for  the  moment,  just  the  right  moment,  to  clinch 
an  argument  or  strike  an  opponent.  But  in  this 
Ascension  Day  sermon  he  over-reached  himself.  In 
the  very  beginning  of  his  discourse  he  branded 


MIGHTIEST  MAN  of  FLORENCE.  93 

Savonarola  as  a  false  prophet  and  accused  him  of 
sowing  sedition  and  creating  scandal.  This  was 
done,  too,  in  such  an  insolent  manner,  and  in  lan- 
guage so  coarse  and  abusive,  that  the  audience  left 
the  place,  disappointed  and  disgusted.  Fra  Ma- 
riano had  missed  his  opportunity.  Savonarola  was 
stronger  than  ever. 

Chagrined  and  humiliated  Mariano  secretly 
vowed  vengeance.  What  dire  wrath  was  his,  and 
what  vengeance  he  purposed,  we  shall  know  later. 
But  he  could  do  nothing  in  the  open  now.  The 
series  of  sermons,  of  which  the  first  only  had  been 
preached  on  that  Ascension  Day,  was  suddenly 
broken  off.  Mariano's  day  in  Florence  was  done. 
On  the  following  Sunday  Savonarola  preached 
from  the  same  text  Mariano  had  used,  and  to  an 
audience  which  crowded  the  Duomo.  It  is  to  his 
credit  that  he  did  not  use  his  increased  power  to 
wage  personal  battle  against  the  men  who  had  tried 
to  crush  him.  Lorenzo  undoubtedly  considered 
himself  defeated,  and  no  longer  tried  to  interfere 
with  the  independence  of  San  Marco  or  the  teach- 
ings of  the  Duomo  pulpit.  Savonarola,  with  all  the 
fire  and  enthusiasm  of  his  great  soul,  went  on  with 
his  preaching. 

Again  and  again  during  these  days  the  preacher 
cried  out  against  the  corrupt  manners  of  the  age. 
He  denounced  every  vice  which  was  notorious  at 
this  time.  Gambling  was  singled  out  for  the  fiercest 
invective.  The  curses  he  pronounced  on  all  gam- 
blers, whether  men  or  women,  are  startling  and 
almost  frightful.  The  thunders  of  God's  wrath 
were  in  his  voice  as  he  threatened  and  commanded. 


94  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

Listen  to  this  as  a  sample:  "If  you  see  persons 
engaged  in  gambling  in  these  days,  believe  them 
to  be  not  Christians,  since  they  are  worse  than 
infidels,  or  ministers  of  the  evil  one,  and  celebrate 
his  rites.  They  are  avaricious  men,  blasphemers, 
slanderers,  detractors  of  others'  fame ;  are  tyrants ; 
they  are  hateful  to  God ;  are  thieves,  murderers,  and 
full  of  all  iniquity;  I  can  not  permit  you  to  share 
in  these  amusements;  ye  must  be  steadfast  in 
prayer,  continually  rendering  thanks  to  the  Al- 
mighty in  the  name  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  He 
that  gambleth  shall  be  accursed,  and  accursed  he 
that  suffereth  others  to  gamble;  shun  ye  their  con- 
versation, for  the  father  that  gambles  before  his 
son  shall  be  accursed,  and  accursed  the  mother 
that  gambles  in  her  daughter's  presence.  There- 
fore, whoever  thou  art,  thou  shalt  be  accursed  if 
thou  dost  gamble  or  allow  others  to  gamble;  thou 
shalt  be  accursed,  I  tell  ye,  in  the  city,  accursed  in 
the  fields;  thy  corn  shall  be  accursed  and  thy  sub- 
stance; cursed  the  fruit  of  thy  land  and  thy  body; 
thy  herds  of  oxen  and  thy  flocks  of  sheep;  cursed 
shalt  thou  be  in  all  thy  comings  and  goings." 

He  was  no  less  fierce  in  his  denunciation  of 
usury  and  unlawful  gain.  "Owing  to  avarice,"  he 
said,  "neither  you  nor  your  children  lead  a  good 
life,  and  you  have  already  discovered  many  devices 
for  gaining  money,  and  many  modes  of  exchange 
which  ye  call  just,  but  are  most  unjust,  and  ye  have 
likewise  corrupted  the  magistrates  and  their  func- 
tions. None  can  persuade  you  that  it  is  sinful  to 
lend  at  usury,  or  make  unjust  bargains ;  on  the 
contrary  you  defend  yourselves  to  your  soul's  dam- 


MIGHTIEST  MAN  otf  FLORENCE.  95 

nation.  Thou  sayest  that  the  good  and  happy  life 
consists  in  gain;  and  Christ  says,  'Blessed  are  the 
poor  in  spirit,  for  theirs  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven.' 
Thou  sayest  that  the  happy  life  consists  in  pleasure 
and  voluptuousness;  and  Christ  says  'Blessed  are 
they  that  mourn,  for  they  shall  be  comforted.' 
Thou  sayest  the  happy  life  consists  in  glory;  and 
Christ  says  'Blessed  are  ye  when  men  shall  revile 
you  and  persecute  you.'  The  way  of  life  hath  been 
shown  to  you,  yet  none  follows  it,  none  seeks  it, 
none  learns  it."  What  a  striking  contrast  is  drawn 
here  between  the  spirit  of  the  sharp  business  man, 
out  for  gain,  and  the  spirit  of  Christ. 

The  most  powerful  impressions  made  by  his 
preaching  were  not  through  his  impassioned  denun- 
ciations of  vice  and  evil-doing,  but  in  his  touching 
and  beautiful  descriptions  of  the  mercy  of  God  and 
his  love,  and  in  his  tender  and  earnest  pleadings 
with  the  people  to  bring  their  lives  into  harmony 
with  the  divine  life  of  Jesus  Christ.  "O !  would 
that  I  might  persuade  you  to  turn  away  from 
earthly  things  and  follow  after  things  eternal! 
Would  God  grant  this  grace  to  me  and  to  you,  I 
should  assuredly  deem  myself  happy  in  this  life. 
But  this  is  a  gift  from  God.  'None  may  come  unto 
Me,'  saith  the  Lord,  'unless  he  be  brought  by  the 
Father.'  I  can  not  enlighten  you  inwardly,  I  can 
only  strike  upon  your  ears ;  but  what  may  that  avail 
if  your  intellect  be  not  enlightened  nor  your  affec- 
tions kindled?"  There  was  something  in  his  voice 
which  gave  such  effect  to  his  words  that  often 
when  he  spoke,  as  in  the  passage  just  quoted,  the 
whole  audience  was  melted  to  tears. 


96  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

It  is  in  the  sermon  on  the  Gospel  of  the  Epiph- 
any in  which  his  deep  feeling  and  lofty  imagina- 
tion are  seen,  perhaps,  as  clearly  as  in  any  other 
of  his  discourses.  He  shows  here  great  skill  both 
in  description  and  argument,  and  proves  himself  a 
master  in  exhortation.  The  three  following  para- 
graphs are  from  this  Epiphany  day  sermon.  They 
are  well  worthy  the  space  here  given  to  them : 

"  'Now  when  Jesus  was  born  in  Bethlehem  of 
Judea,  in  the  days  of  Herod  the  king;  behold  there 
came  to  Jerusalem  wise  men  from  the  East,  say- 
ing, Where  is  He  that  is  born  in  Judea?  For 
we  have  seen  His  star  in  the  East,  and  have  come 
to  worship  Him  with  gifts' — mark  the  words  and 
observe  the  mysteries.  Behold  then  that  He,  by 
whom  all  things  were  made,  is  this  day  born  upon 
earth.  Wherefore,  the  beginning  of  all  things  (in- 
asmuch as  by  Him  all  things  were  created)  is  now 
born,  and  hath  a  young  virgin  for  His  mother. 
Behold,  He  who  holds  the  world  in  His  hand,  is 
brought  forth  of  a  maid.  Behold,  He  that  is  above 
all  things  begins  by  having  a  native  land;  He  be- 
gins as  the  compatriot  of  men,  the  companion  of 
men,  the  brother  of  men,  and  the  son  of  man !  See 
how  God  cometh  near  unto  you !" 

"Hearken  then,  my  brethren,  and  let  not  your 
thoughts  go  astray.  Open  your  eyes,  and  behold 
who  are  these  that  are  coming.  I  cry  unto  you,  O 
men,  and  my  voice  is  for  the  children  of  men.  Be- 
hold the  wise  men,  behold  the  Chaldeans ;  behold 
those  that  were  not  born  among  Christians ;  behold 
those  that  were  not  baptized ;  behold  those  that  were 
not  instructed  in  the  law  of  the  Gospel;  behold 


MIGHTIEST  MAN  o£  FLORENCE.  97 

those  that  did  not  receive  the  numerous  sacraments 
of  the  Church;  behold  those  that  heard  not  the 
voice  of  preachers.  Behold  the  wise  men  of  the 
East,  from  the  midst  of  a  perverse  and  evil  nation, 
from  distant  and  remote  regions;  shrinking  from 
no  expense,  from  no  weariness,  from  no  danger. 
They  came.  And  when  was  it  that  they  came? 
When  all  the  world  was  full  of  idolatry;  when 
men  bowed  down  before  stocks  and  stones;  when 
the  earth  was  full  of  darkness  and  gloom,  and  all 
men  full  of  iniquity.  When  was  it  that  they  came  ? 
When  Christ  was  a  babe,  when  He  lay  upon  straw, 
when  He  showed  naught  but  weakness,  when  He 
had  as  yet  done  no  miracles.  We  beheld  his  star 
in  the  Bast,  the  star  that  announced  his  coming. 
Behold,  they  saw  His  star,  but  no  other  miracle; 
they  beheld  not  the  blind  restored  to  sight  nor  the 
dead  raised  nor  any  other  visible  thing.  And  we 
come  to  worship  Him.  We  have  made  a  great 
journey  only  to  worship  the  foot-prints  of  the  Babe. 
If  only  we  may  see  Him,  may  adore  Him,  may 
touch  Him,  if  only  we  may  lay  our  gifts  before 
Him,  we  deem  ourselves  blessed.  We  have  for- 
saken our  country,  have  forsaken  our  families, 
have  forsaken  our  friends,  have  forsaken  our 
kingdom,  have  forsaken  our  great  riches;  we 
have  come  from  a  distant  land,  through  many 
dangers,  and  with  much  speed,  and  solely  to 
worship  Him.  This  is  sufficient  for  us,  this  is 
more  to  us  than  our  kingdoms,  this  is  more  pre- 
cious to  us  than  our  very  life.  What  then  shall 
we  say  to  these  things,  my  brethren?  What,  by 
our  faith,  shall  we  say?  O  living  faith!  O  highest 
7 


98  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

charity!  See  ye  then  how  great  was  the  perfidy 
of  the  Judeans,  how  great  the  hardness  of  their 
hearts,  since  neither  by  miracles,  nor  by  prophecies, 
nor  by  this  voice,  were  they  moved !" 

"But  why  have  we  directed  our  sermon  against 
the  men  of  Judea,  and  not  rather  against  ourselves  ? 
Why  dost  thou  see  the  mote  in  thy  brother's  eye, 
yet  can  not  see  the  beam  in  thy  own?  Behold,  the 
Lord  Jesus  is  no  longer  a  babe  in  the  manger,  but 
is  great  in  heaven.  Already  hath  He  preached  and 
performed  miracles,  hath  been  crucified,  hath  risen 
again,  and  now  sitteth  at  the  right  hand  of  the 
Father,  hath  sent  his  Holy  Spirit  down  upon  the 
earth,  hath  sent  the  apostles,  hath  subjugated  the 
nations.  Already  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  every- 
where; behold,  its  door  is  opened  unto  you;  the 
Lord  hath  led  the  way,  and  the  apostles  and  mar- 
tyrs have  followed  Him.  But  thou  art  slothful,  and 
all  labor  is  a  burden  to  thee,  and  thou  wilt  not 
follow  the  footsteps  of  Christ.  Behold,  each  day 
avarice  grows,  the  whirlpool  of  usury  is  widened, 
lust  hath  contaminated  all  things,  and  pride  soar- 
eth  to  the  clouds.  Ye  are  children  of  the  devil,  and 
ye  seek  to  do  the  will  of  your  father.  O !  well 
might  it  be  said  of  you,  in  the  words  of  the  Bible — 
'Behold,  I  go  unto  a  people  which  knoweth  me  not, 
and  calleth  not  upon  my  name ;  daily  have  I  reached 
out  my  hands  to  an  unbelieving  people,  which  walk- 
eth  in  the  way  of  perdition,  a  people  which  pro- 
voketh  me  to  anger.'  "  The  effect  of  such  a  ser- 
mon could  not  have  been  other  than  wholesome 
and  helpful.  It  was  in  sermons  of  this  character 
that  he  found  his  greatest  delight.  He  was  a  true 
Gospel  preacher. 


MIGHTIEST  MAN  OF  FLORENCE.  99 

The  struggle  between  Savonarola  and  Lorenzo 
was  nearing  its  end.  In  his  charming  villa  at 
Careggi  Lorenzo  the  Magnificent  lay  dying.  Physi- 
cians of  greatest  repute  had  done  their  best.  Pico 
and  Ficino  had  paid  frequent  visits  to  their  great 
friend.  Poliziano  had  nursed  the  sick  man  like  a 
brother.  When  priests  gathered  about  him  to  ad- 
minister the  last  sacrament,  Lorenzo  was  visibly 
overcome  with  agitation.  Frightful  specters  of  his 
sins  rose  up  to  horrify  him.  There  was  the  sack 
of  Volterra!  There  were  beautiful  girls  driven  to 
shame  through  robbery!  There  was  frightful  and 
indiscriminate  slaughter  in  the  reprisals  which  fol- 
lowed the  conspiracy  of  the  Pazzi !  Friends  tried 
to  console  him.  Priests  and  monks  attempted 
words  of  comfort.  But  he  would  have  none  of 
them.  Mariano  would  not  do  now!  He  would 
have  none  of  the  fawning  priests  and  friars  who 
had  so  basely  bowed  to  his  every  wish.  To  the 
amazement  of  all  he  commanded  them  to  send  for 
Savonarola,  and  said,  "I  know  no  honest  friar  save 
this  one."  Savonarola  could  hardly  believe  the 
message.  Made  certain  there  was  no  mistake,  he 
started.  We  can  hardly  imagine  the  fast  hurry- 
ing thoughts  which  must  have  crowded  through  his 
brain  as,  with  black  cowl  drawn  about  his  face, 
he  walked  out  through  the  San  Gallo  gate  towards 
Careggi.  He  was  ushered  into  the  chamber  of  the 
illustrious  Prince.  The  two  mighty  men  of  Flor- 
ence were  at  last  come  together !  One  was  dying — 
the  other  was  approaching  his  greatest  power  and 
influence. 

As  the  two  men  looked  at  each  other  Lorenzo 


ioo  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

was  again  overcome  with  agitation.  Savonarola 
spoke  of  the  goodness  and  mercy  of  God!  The 
dying  man  listened.  The  testimony  of  biographers, 
early  and  late,  Catholic  and  Protestant,  .seems  to 
be  divided  as  to  just  what  took  place  between  these 
two  men.  The  description  here  given  follows  Bur- 
lamacchi  and  othe'r  early  biographers,  rather  than 
Poliziano,  Rostoe,  and  others,  who  had  good  rea- 
son, all  of  them,  for  trying  to  soften  the  account 
as  given  by  intimate  friends  of  the  great  preacher. 
"Before  absolution,"  said  Savonarola,  "three  things 
are  necessary."  "What  things,  Father?"  asked  the 
dying  Lorenzo.  With  solemn  face  and  extended 
hand  Savonarola  began.  "First  a  great  and  living 
faith  in  God's  mercy."  The  answer  came  quickly, 
"I  have  the  fullest  faith  in  it,  Father."  "Second, 
you  must  restore  all  your  ill-gotten  wealth  or 
charge  your  sons  to  restore  it  in  your  name." 
There  was  no  quick  answer  to  this  demand,  but 
after  some  hesitation  assent  was  given.  And  now 
Savonarola,  rising  to  his  full  height,  announced  the 
last  requirement.  "You  must  restore  liberty  to 
the  people  of  Florence."  The  angry  Lorenzo,  sum- 
moning all  his  dying  strength,  turned  his  back. 
The  absolution  was  not  granted.  Forces  and  ideas 
so  opposite  as  those  represented  by  these  two  men, 
could  not  be  brought  into  harmony,  even  in  the 
chamber  of  death.  It  was  Lorenzo  who  departed ! 
This  was  as  Savonarola  had  said  to  the  committee 
of  noble  citizens  two  years  before,  "He  will  depart, 
but  I  shall  stay." 


CHAPTER   IX. 

STARTLING  EVENTS  AND  STRIKING 
VISIONS. 

PIERO  DE'  MEDICI,  son  of  Lorenzo,  succeeded  to 
the  position  of  power  and  influence  in  the  govern- 
ment of  Florence.  If  we  may  accept  his  father's 
estimate  of  him,  Piero  was  the  fool  of  the  family. 
To  each  of  Lorenzo's  sons  he  gave  a  name  sug- 
gestive of  his  character.  Giovanni,  the  young  car- 
dinal, he  called  the  "wise  one;"  Giuliano,  the 
"good ;"  to  Piero,  his  successor  in  political  responsi- 
bility, he  gave  the  name  "mad  one."  Lorenzo  did 
not  miss  it  much  in  the  estimate  he  made  of  his 
three  sons. 

Piero  was  almost  totally  unlike  his  father.  He 
did  have  some  of  his  bad  qualities,  but  none  of  the 
good.  The  prudence  and  far-sightedness  which 
Lorenzo  had  shown  in  his  successful  foreign  policy, 
did  not  appeal  to  Piero  at  all.  Nor  did  he  have 
any  patience  with  the  form  and  semblance  of  free- 
dom in  the  government  of  Florence  which  Lorenzo 
had  diplomatically  preserved.  He  was  not  born 
for  an  administrator,  and  the  details  of  politics 
were  not  to  his  liking.  As  a  man  to  guide  the 
Florentine  ship  of  State  he  was  an  utter  failure. 
He  did  have  ambition.  He  was  a  good  athlete,  and 
showed  great  skill  in  such  sports  as  handball,  foot- 
ball, wrestling,  boxing,  and  tennis.  He  excelled 

101 


io2  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

as  a  horseman,  and  was  exceedingly  fond  of  racing 
and  tournaments.  So  proud  was  he  of  his  ath- 
letic skill  that  he  challenged  the  best  players  of  all 
Italy  to  come  to  Florence  and  meet  him.  In  the 
arts  and  sciences  he  took  little  interest,  though  he 
was  a  man  of  no  mean  intellectual  ability.  He 
wrote  much  poetry,  such  as  it  was,  and  spoke  with 
pleasing  fluency. 

Piero  inherited  the  proud  spirit  of  the  Orsini 
family  from  his  mother.  The  courteous  refinement 
of  manner  which  had  characterized  his  father,  and 
contributed  so  largely  to  his  popularity,  found  no 
expression  in  him.  Socially  engaging,  when  he 
wanted  to  be,  and  strikingly  attractive  in  personal 
appearance — "the  only  handsome  member  of  the 
Medici  family" — he  was,  at  times,  blunt,  rough,  and 
uncouth  in  manner.  He  often  broke  into  violent 
fits  of  anger  when  there  was  hardly  slight  excuse. 
It  is  said  that  on  one  occasion  at  a  dancing  party 
he  boxed  the  ears  of  one  of  his  cousins.  He  not 
only  offended  private  individuals  but  created  pub- 
lic resentment  in  many  quarters  by  openly  disre- 
garding the  forms  of  liberty  so  dear  to  the  freedom- 
loving  Florentines.  Instead  of  flattering  the  people 
by  keeping  up  the  appearance  of  being  only  a 
citizen,  and,  therefore,  one  of  the  people,  thus  fol- 
lowing the  example  of  his  father  and  grandfather, 
he  rashly  decided  to  play  the  role  of  absolute  prince. 
This  policy  created  disaffection.  Many  who  had 
willingly  acknowledged  the  leadership  of  Lorenzo, 
stoutly  refused  to  brook  the  insolent  arrogance  of 
Piero.  Murmurs  were  heard  among  the  citizens, 
and,  almost  before  men  realized  it,  a  hostile  party 


STARTLING  EVENTS.  103 

had  risen  up  in  antagonism  to  the  rule  of  the 
Medici. 

It  was  now  that  Savonarola,  all  unconscious  to 
himself,  came  to  be  regarded  as  the  leader  of  the 
opposition.  There  was  nothing  in  his  preaching 
which  showed  any  direct  antagonism  to  Piero.  In 
fact,  it  has  been  thought  by  some  that  Savonarola 
did  not  regard  Piero  as  a  formidable  opponent  of 
his  work.  Piero,  on  the  other  hand,  could  not  look 
upon  the  growing  power  and  influence  of  the  Prior 
of  San  Marco  without  feeling  that  the  preacher 
constituted  a  menace  to  his  own  power  and  influ- 
ence. With  more  earnestness  than  ever  Savonarola 
kept  on  preaching  justice  and  liberty. 

Within  two  weeks  after  the  death  of  Lorenzo, 
while  preaching  the  Lenten  sermons  in  the  Church 
of  San  Lorenzo,  Savonarola  saw  a  vision  which  he 
described  in  the  following  words :  "I  saw  two 
crosses,  whereof  the  one,  which  rose  from  the  midst 
of  the  city  of  Rome,  and  reached  even  to  the  sky, 
was  black,  and  it  bore  the  inscription  CRUX  IR# 
DEI.  (The  Cross  of  God's  Wrath.)  Immediately 
upon  its  appearance,  I  saw  the  sky  dark  with  scud- 
ding clouds,  and  a  tempest  of  wind ;  lightning,  thun- 
derbolts, hail,  fire,  and  hurtling  swords  arose,  and 
an  immense  multitude  of  men  were  slain  so  that 
only  a  remnant  was  left.  Thereafter,  I  saw  the 
sky  grow  calm  and  clear,  and  another  cross  rose 
up,  from  the  midst  of  Jerusalem,  not  less  lofty  than 
the  first,  but  of  a  splendor  so  brilliant  that  it  illu- 
minated all  the  world;  causing  fresh  flowers  to 
spring  on  every  side  and  joy  to  abound,  and  it  bore 
the  legend  CRUX  MISERICORDL^  DEI.  (The  Cross 


104  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

of  God's  Mercy.)  And  forthwith  all  nations  of 
the  earth  flocked  together  to  adore  and  embrace 
it." 

Such  a  vision  could  only  create  in  the  minds  of 
the  people  expectation,  of  an  impending  crisis.  The 
"black  cross,"  signifying  the  wrath  of  God,  rose 
from  Rome.  The  "white  cross,"  emblematic  of 
Divine  mercy,  rose  from  Jerusalem.  This  was  the 
third  in  the  series  of  visions  in  which  Savonarola 
saw  frightful  evils  impending  because  of  the  cor- 
ruptions and  atrocities  of  Rome.  On  seeing  the 
first  of  these  visions  he  had  cried  out,  "O  God, 
lady,  that  I  might  break  those  spreading  wings!" 
On  seeing  the  black  cross,  the  darkened  sky,  the 
lightning  and  thunder,  the  wind  and  the  hail,  and 
the  multitudes  of  slain,  the  cry  must  have  broke 
forth  again,  and  with  increasing  earnestness.  He 
proclaimed  once  more  the  scourge  which  would 
come  upon  the  Church,  and  the  regeneration  which 
would  follow. 

Not  long  after  this  vision  came  the  announce- 
ment of  the  death  of  Innocent  VIII.  His  suc- 
cessor was  Roderigo  Borgia,  who  has  already 
been  described  as  "the  man  to  whom  belonged 
the  bad  pre-eminence  of  being  the  worst  pope 
that  ever  sat  in  St.  Peter's  chair."  The  num- 
ber of  cardinals  who  were  in  the  conclave  when  he 
was  elected,  was  twenty-three.  His  election  was 
bought.  This  nobody  doubted.  But  Rome  was  be- 
coming so  accustomed  to  simony  that  the  purchase 
created  little  surprise.  Many  discussed  the  details 
of  the  bargain  without  the  slightest  feeling  that  they 
were  doing  an  impropriety,  any  more  than  if  they 


STARTLING  EVENTS.  105 

had  been  talking  of  a  trade  between  the  King  of 
Naples  and  the  Duke  of  Milan.  It  is  a  pity  that 
so  little  good  can  be  said  of  Roderigo  Borgia,  who 
assumed  the  title  Alexander  VI.  Licentious  and 
immoral,  notorious  for  his  insatiable  greed  for  gold, 
scandalously  ambitious  for  honors  and  preferment, 
this  Alexander  sat  himself  down  in  the  chair  of 
St.  Peter,  to  rule  the  Church  and  Italy  in  the  inter- 
est of  his  own  personal  ambition  and  for  the  ad- 
vantage of  his  notorious  household. 

It  was  stated  in  the  opening  chapter  that  there 
is  no  quarrel  between  Catholic  and  Protestant  as 
to  the  character  of  this  pope.  In  a  recent  biography 
of  Savonarola,  by  Herbert  Lucas,  a  Jesuit,  the 
author,  after  referring  to  the  scandalous  excesses 
of  the  unworthy  men,  who  for  family  or  political 
reasons,  had  been  advanced  by  Sixtus  and  In- 
nocent to  the  highest  positions  in  the  Church  and 
in  the  papal  States,  says,  "It  was  in  fact  precisely 
these  unworthy  promotions  under  Sixtus  IV,  which 
rendered  possible  the  choice  of  his  successor  Inno- 
cent VIII,  and  which  paved  the  way  for  that 
crowning  scandal,  the  simoniacal  election  of  the 
ever  infamous  Alexander  VI."  In  the  whole  list 
of  Protestant  biographers  it  would  be  difficult  to 
find  stronger  words  of  criticism  than  these  and 
others  of  Fra  Lucas.  The  election  of  Alexander 
was  received  throughout  Italy  with  almost  uni- 
versal dismay.  Ferdinand  of  Naples,  it  is  said, 
burst  into  tears  at  the  news,  although  never  before 
known  to  weep,  even  on  the  death  of  his  own  chil- 
dren. Fra  Lucas  is  right  in  describing  it  as  the 
"crowning  scandal"  of  the  age. 


io6  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

The  announcement  of  Roderigo  Borgia's  elec- 
tion to  the  papal  throne,  naturally  tended  to  turn 
many  eyes  toward  the  man  in  the  Duomo,  who  had 
been  speaking  out  so  vehemently  against  the  cor- 
ruptions of  Rome.  Perhaps  some  called  attention  to 
his  declaration,  made  less  than  a  year  before,  that 
the  death  of  three  men  was  at  hand, — Lorenzo,  In- 
nocent VIII,  and  the  King  of  Naples.  Two  were 
already  dead,  and  the  third  too  feeble  to  last  much 
longer.  The  three  famous  propositions  were  being 
talked  about  everywhere.  "The  Church  will  be 
scourged !  It  will  be  regenerated !  All  this  will 
come  to  pass  speedily!"  Was  not  the  time  of  the 
fulfillment  of  the  prophecies  at  hand?  The  fame 
of  Savonarola  rapidly  increased. 

The  effect  of  this  papal  election  upon  Savon- 
arola must  have  been  almost  overwhelming.  He 
undoubtedly  thought  again  of  the  visions  he  had 
seen,  and  the  earnest  messages  he  had  spoken.  He 
re-read  the  prophets;  the  noble  and  impassioned 
addresses  of  Isaiah,  and  the  frightful  woes  and 
lamentations  of  Jeremiah.  There  now  appeared 
another  vision.  It  came  to  him  in  his  cell  in  San 
Marco.  This  vision  can  best  be  told  in  his  own 
words.  "I  saw  then  in  the  year  1492,  the  night 
before  the  last  sermon  which  I  gave  that  Advent  in 
Santa  Reparata  (the  Duomo),  a  hand  in  heaven 
with  a  sword,  upon  which  was  written :  'The  sword 
of  the  Lord  upon  the  earth,  soon  and  swiftly;' 
and  over  the  hand  was  written,  'True  and  just 
are  the  judgments  of  the  Lord.'  And  it  seemed 
that  the  arm  of  the  hand  proceeded  from  three 
faces  in  one  light,  of  which  the  first  said:  'The 


STARTLING  EVENTS.  107 

iniquity  of  my  sanctuary  crieth  to  me  from  the 
earth.'  The  second  replied:  'Therefore  will  I  visit 
with  a  rod  their  iniquities,  and  with  stripes  their 
sins.'  The  third  said:  'My  mercy  will  I  not  re- 
move from  it,  nor  will  I  harm  it  in  my  truth,  and 
I  will  have  mercy  upon  the  poor  and  the  needy.' 
In  like  manner  the  first  answered :  'My  people  have 
forgotten  my  commandments  days  without  num- 
ber.' The  second  replied:  'Therefore  will  I  grind 
and  break  in  pieces  and  will  not  have  mercy.'  The 
third  said:  'I  will  be  mindful  of  those  who  walk 
in  my  precepts.'  And  straightway  there  came  a 
great  voice  from  all  the  three  faces,  over  all  the 
world,  and  it  said :  'Hearken,  all  ye  dwellers  on  the 
earth;  thus  saith  the  Lord.  I,  the  Lord,  am  speak- 
ing in  My  holy  zeal.  Behold,  the  days  shall  come 
and  I  will  unsheath  My  sword  upon  you.  Be  ye 
converted  therefore  unto  Me,  before  My  fury  be  ac- 
complished; for  when  the  destruction  cometh,  ye 
shall  seek  peace  and  there  shall  be  none.'  After 
these  words  it  seemed  to  me  that  I  saw  the  whole 
world,  and  that  the  angels  descended  from  heaven 
to  earth,  arrayed  in  white,  with  a  multitude  of  spot- 
less stoles  on  their  shoulders  and  red  crosses  in 
their  hands;  and  they  went  through  the  world, 
offering  to  each  man  a  white  robe  and  a  cross. 
Some  men  accepted  them  and  robed  themselves  with 
them.  Some  would  not  accept  them,  although  they 
did  not  impede  the  others  who  accepted  them. 
Others  would  neither  accept  them  nor  permit  that 
the  others  should  accept  them ;  and  these  were  the 
tepid  and  the  sapient  of  this  world,  who  made 
mock  of  them  and  strove  to  persuade  the  contrary. 


108  GlROIvAMO    SAVONAROLA. 

After  this,  the  hand  turned  the  sword  down  towards 
the  earth;  and  suddenly  it  seemed  that  all  the  air 
grew  dark  with  clouds,  and  that  it  rained  down 
swords  and  hail  with  great  thunder  and  lightning 
and  fire;  and  there  came  upon  the  earth  pestilence 
and  famine  and  great  tribulation.  And  I  saw  the 
angels  go  through  the  midst  of  the  people,  and  give 
to  those  who  had  the  white  robe  and  the  cross  in 
their  hands  a  clear  wine  to  drink;  and  they  drank 
and  said :  'How  sweet  in  our  mouths  are  Thy  words, 
O  Lord.'  And  the  dregs  at  the  bottom  of  the 
chalice  they  gave  to  drink  to  the  others,  and  they 
would  not  drink;  and  it  seemed  that  these  would 
fain  have  been  converted  to  penitence  and  could 
not,  and  they  said :  'Wherefore  dost  thou  forget  us, 
Lord?'  And  they  wished  to  lift  up  their  eyes  and 
look  up  to  God,  but  they  could  not,  so  weighed 
down  were  they  with  tribulations;  for  they  were 
as  though  drunk,  and  it  seemed  that  their  hearts 
had  left  their  breasts,  and  they  went  seeking  the 
lusts  of  this  world  and  found  them  not.  And  they 
walked  like  senseless  beings  without  hearts.  After 
this  was  done,  I  heard  a  very  great  voice  from  those 
three  faces,  which  said :  'Hear  ye  then  the  word  of 
the  Lord;  for  this  have  I  waited  for  you,  that  I 
may  have  mercy  upon  you.  Come  ye  therefore  to 
me,  for  I  am  kind  and  merciful,  extending  mercy 
to  all  who  call  upon  me.  But  if  you  will  not,  I 
will  turn  my  eyes  from  you  forever.'  And  it  turned 
then  to  the  just,  and  said:  'But  rejoice,  ye  just, 
and  exult,  for  when  my  short  anger  shall  have 
passed,  I  will  break  the  horns  of  sinners,  and  the 
horns  of  the  just  shall  be  exalted.'  And  suddenly 


STARTLING  EVENTS.  109 

everything  disappeared,  and  it  was  said  to  me: 
'Son,  if  sinners  had  eyes,  they  would  surely  see 
how  grievous  and  hard  is  this  pestilence,  and  how 
sharp  the  sword.' ': 

The  description  of  this  vision  has  been  given  at 
length  because  it  is  perhaps  the  most  strikingly 
characteristic  of  all  Savonarola's  visions.  Besides, 
it  enters  into  and  determines,  to  a  very  great  ex- 
tent, his  future  preaching.  "The  Gladius  Domini" 
(Sword  of  Jehovah)  which  he  saw,  promising 
mercy  to  the  good,  and  threatening  chastisement  to 
the  wicked,  was  to  Savonarola  the  wrath  and  the 
judgment  of  God  coming  to  "break  the  spreading 
wings."  His  description  of  the  vision  to  the  great 
and  excited  audience  in  the  Duomo  must  have  been 
simply  overwhelming.  The  people  never  forgot  it. 
It  was  an  event  which  marked  a  day  to  be  reckoned 
from.  The  white  robes  and  red  crosses  of  the 
vision,  were  thereafter  the  distinguishing  marks  of 
Savonarola's  followers  in  public  processions  and 
similar  functions.  Many  medals  were  struck  in 
the  preacher's  honor,  celebrating  the  announcement 
of  the  vision.  Two  of  them  are  still  preserved  in 
the  Ufizzi  gallery  in  Florence.  Villari  has  described 
one  of  them  as  attributed  by  Heiss,  and  certain 
other  writers,  to  one  of  the  Delia  Robbia  family. 
This  medal  bears  on  the  obverse  the  friar's  head, 
cowled,  but  with  the  rather  high  forehead  left  un- 
covered. The  legend  encircling  it  is  "Hieronymus 
Savonarola  Ferrariensis  vir  doctissimus  ordinis  prae- 
dicatorum."  (Girolamo  Savonarola,  of  Ferrara, 
the  most  learned  of  the  class  of  prophets.)  On  the 
upper  part  of  the  reverse  is  a  hand  with  a  dagger ; 


no  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

beneath  a  city  (Florence  or  Rome),  and  around  it 
the  words,  "Gladius  Domini  super  terram  cito  et 
velociter."  (The  sword  of  the  Lord  upon  the  earth, 
soon  and  swiftly.) 

It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  in  this  very  year, 
1492,  while  Columbus,  a  man  of  Genoa,  was  dis- 
covering a  new  world  beyond  the  seas,  Savonarola, 
a  man  of  a  sister  Italian  city,  was  discovering  a 
new  world  of  spiritual  living  and  moral  respon- 
sibility. 

With  all  Savonarola's  preaching,  and  with  all 
his  care  in  directing  affairs  in  the  monastery  in  this 
eventful  year,  he  twice  journeyed  to  Venice,  once 
in  February  and  again  in  May.  He  also  visited 
Pisa,  where  he  preached  for  a  short  time  in  the 
monastery  of  Santa  Caterina.  In  the  Lenten  season 
of  1493,  to  the  surprise  and  disappointment  of 
many,  he  was  not  heard  in  the  Duomo,  having  been 
appointed  to  preach  the  Lenten  sermons  for  that 
year  in  Bologna.  Why  he  was  sent  there  is  not 
known.  Villari  puts  the  responsibility  on  Piero  de' 
Medici,  who,  less  judicious  than  his  father,  wished 
to  be  rid  of  the  too  popular  preacher,  round  whom 
all  his  enemies  were  beginning  to  rally.  He  ac- 
cordingly arranged  with  the  General  of  the  Order, 
to  have  the  prior  removed  from  Florence. 

This  explanation  of  the  absence  is  not  accepted 
by  all.  There  is  good  reason,  however,  for  believ- 
ing that  it  was  not  the  wish  of  Savonarola  to  be 
absent  from  Florence  at  this  time.  The  brothers  of 
San  Marco  were  sore  distressed  at  his  being  away 
from  them  and  wrote  him  of  their  grief  and  im- 
patience at  his  delay  in  returning.  "Your  tender 
affection,"  he  writes  in  reply,  "is  ever  in  my  mind, 


STARTLING  EVENTS.  in 

and  I  often  speak  of  it  with  Fra  Basilio,  my  very 
dear  son  and  your  true  brother  in  Christ  Jesus. 
.  .  .  We  lead  a  very  solitary  life,  like  unto  two 
turtle  doves,  awaiting  the  spring  to  return  again 
to  the  soft  climate  where  we  once  dwelt,  amid  the 
blossoms  and  joys  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  .  .  .  But  if 
your  sadnees  seems  too  great  for  you  to  deem  life 
possible  without  me,  your  love  is  still  imperfect, 
and  therefore  God  has  taken  me  from  you  for  some 
space  of  time." 

He  did  not  enjoy  his  stay  in  Bologna.  The 
city  was  not  at  all  pleasing  to  him.  Besides,  his 
heart  was  in  Florence.  In  Bologna  the  despotic 
Bentivoglio,  ruffian  as  well  as  despot,  ruled  with 
an  iron  hand.  Preachers  were  expected  to  keep 
well  within  prescribed  limits  in  Bologna.  Under 
such  constraint  Savonarola  must  have  hesitated 
even  more  than  he  did  when  preaching  before  the 
Signory  in  Florence.  After  the  first  hearing,  he 
was  described  by  the  literati  as  "a  simple  man  and 
a  preacher  for  women."  But  great  numbers  came 
to  hear  him.  Even  before  he  arrived  his  name  was 
well  known  in  Bologna,  as  in  all  Italy. 

The  only  incident  worthy  of  note  during  this 
series  of  sermons  was  a  stinging  rebuke  which  was 
given  to  my  Lady  Bentivoglio,  who  came  day  after 
day  with  the  crowd  to  hear  the  popular  preacher. 
She  always  arrived  late.  Not  the  last  important 
lady  who  has  had  "the  vice  of  coming  in  late  to 
Church."  She  came  with  a  long  train  of  ladies, 
cavaliers,  and  pages.  It  was  an  interruption  of  the 
service  which  Savonarola  could  not  tolerate.  For 
the  first  day  or  two  he  paused  in  his  sermon  until 
she  was  seated,  thinking  she  would  take  this  as  a 


ii2  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

gentle  rebuke  and  arrive  earlier.  This  she  did  not 
do.  Savonarola  then  remarked  on  the  sin  of  dis- 
turbing the  devotions  of  the  faithful.  Offended  at 
these  words,  which  she  clearly  understood  were 
meant  for  her,  she  came  still  later  thereafter,  made 
more  noise  in  coming  in,  and  was  in  every  way 
haughtier  in  her  manner.  At  last  Savonarola  could 
bear  it  no  longer.  Interrupted  one  morning  when 
he  was  in  the  very  midst  of  a  most  earnest  exhor- 
tation, he  cried  out  in  a  voice  that  startled  every 
one  in  the  room,  "Behold,  here  cometh  the  devil 
to  interrupt  God's  Word."  The  haughty  wife  of 
Bentivoglio,  insulted  and  angered,  ordered  two 
of  her  cavaliers  to  strike  the  preacher  dead  then 
and  there  in  the  pulpit.  This  they  had  not  the 
courage  to  do.  Chagrined  and  humiliated,  she  then 
sent  two  others  to  find  the  monk  in  his  cell  and 
kill  him.  Savonarola  received  them,  so  the  story 
goes,  with  so  much  calm  and  dignity,  and  spoke 
to  them  with  such  an  air  of  authority,  that  they 
listened  respectfully  and  departed  in  confusion. 

It  was  near  the  end  of  the  Lenten  season  and 
Savonarola  was  soon  to  leave  Bologna,  but  he 
would  not  let  it  be  said  that  he  had  been  driven 
away  or  that  he  had  gone  out  secretly.  Before 
leaving  the  pulpit  on  the  day  of  his  last  sermon, 
after  declaring  his  confidence  in  his  God-appointed 
mission,  he  said,  "This  evening  I  set  forth  on  my 
journey  to  Florence,  with  my  little  staff  and  wooden 
flask,  and  I  shall  rest  at  Pianora.  If  any  man  have 
aught  to  say  to  me,  let  him  come  before  I  leave. 
But  I  tell  you  that  my  death  is  not  to  take  place  in 
Bologna." 


CHAPTER    X. 

REFORMS  BEGIN  IN  THE  MONASTERY 
OF  SAN  MARCO. 

ON  returning  to  Florence  Savonarola  found  the 
opposition  to  Piero  more  determined  than  ever. 
He  was  in  a  strait  betwixt  two.  If  he  spoke  as  he 
felt  he  ought  to  speak,  he  might  be  sent  away  from 
Florence  again.  If  he  kept  silent — but  he  could 
not  do  that.  He  finally  decided  upon  a  course  of 
action  which  in  all  probability  he  had  thought 
through  before.  His  one  aim  now  was  to  carry 
out  a  program  of  reform.  But  he  saw  that  it  was 
necessary  to  begin  with  the  men  who  occupied  posi- 
tions of  leadership.  In  this  case  it  was  the  monks 
and  the  priests.  The  first  among  them  to  be  reached 
were  the  friars  of  San  Marco.  Savonarola  felt  the 
necessity  of  setting  his  own  household  in  order. 
To  do  this  he  must  secure  for  himself  and  for  the 
convent  a  more  independent  position. 

San  Marco  and  the  other  Dominican  monasteries 
connected  with  it  in  Tuscany  had  been,  since  1448, 
under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  congregation  of  Lom- 
bardy,  and  Savonarola  as  Prior  of  San  Marco  was 
subject  to  the  commands  of  the  vicar  of  that  con- 
gregation. In  order  to  secure  the  freedom  needed 
in  his  work  of  reform,  Savonarola  made  application 
to  Rome,  asking  that  the  independence  of  the  Tus- 
cany congregation  be  again  recognized.  He  was 
8  113 


ii4  GiROivAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

heartily  supported  in  this  by  all  the  members  of 
San  Marco,  by  the  Signory  of  Florence,  by  Piero 
de'  Medici,  and  by  one  of  the  most  influential  pa- 
trons of  the  order,  Cardinal  Caraffa  of  Naples. 
Savonarola  never  showed  more  clearly  than  in  this 
instance  his  practical  wisdom,  sagacity,  and  far- 
sighted  diplomacy.  He  was  not  content  with  simply 
forwarding  the  petition,  powerfully  supported 
though  it  was.  He  sent  two  of  the  most  trusted 
brothers  of  San  Marco,  Fra  Alessandro  and  Fra 
Dominico,  instructing  them  to  urge  the  application 
in  every  way  possible  with  wisdom.  These  messen- 
gers found  on  arriving  in  Rome  that  the  Lombardy 
congregation  was  urgently  opposing  the  plan  of 
separation,  and  that  they  had  back  of  them  Ludo- 
vico  Sforza  of  Milan,  the  Duke  of  Ferrara,  Benti- 
voglio  of  Bologna,  the  Venetian  Signory,  the  King 
of  Naples,  and  Rome.  There  seemed  no  chance  for 
the  success  of  the  plan  of  separation,  and  Savon- 
arola's messengers  so  wrote  him.  By  speedy  post 
he  replied,  "Fear  not,  remain  firm,  and  you  will 
conquer ;  the  Lord  scattereth  the  counsels  of  nations 
and  overthroweth  the  designs  of  princes." 

Victory  came  in  a  most  unexpected  manner.  It 
was  through  Cardinal  Caraffa,  who  shrewdly  out- 
witted the  powerful  opposition  and  secured  for  San 
Marco  the  coveted  brief.  The  subject  was  discussed 
at  a  consistory  on  the  22d  of  May,  1493.  The  pope 
wearied  of  the  discussion,  which  had  already  been 
persistent  and  long  continued,  suddenly  dissolved 
the  consistory,  saying  that  he  was  not  disposed  to 
sign  any  briefs  that  day.  Cardinal  Caraffa  did  not 
leave  with  the  others,  but  remained  with  the  pope, 


REFORMS  BEGIN.  115 

ngaging  him  in  entertaining  conversation  on  other 
subjects.  At  the  opportune  moment  he  produced 
the  brief  already  prepared  and  playfully  asked  the 
Holy  Father  to  sign  it.  Laughingly  the  pope  re- 
fused, and  laughingly  Cardinal  Caraffa  drew  the 
pope's  signet  ring  from  his  finger  and  sealed  the 
brief.  Caraffa  had  hardly  gone  from  the  pope's 
presence,  when  a  delegation  came  in  haste  from 
the  Lombardy  congregation  with  newly-framed  ar- 
guments against  the  independence  of  San  Marco. 
But  they  were  too  late.  The  brief  was  sealed.  The 
pope  tired  of  the  whole  affair  refused  to  hear 
any  of  their  arguments.  "Had  you  come  sooner," 
he  said,  "your  request  would  have  been  granted,  but 
now  what  is  done  is  done." 

By  a  shrewd  move  on  the  part  of  the  Father 
Provincial  of  the  Lombardy  congregation,  Savon- 
arola and  certain  others  to  quit  San  Marco  and 
order  was  sent  to  San  Marco  commanding  Savon- 
arola and  certain  others  to  quit  San  Marco  and 
immediately  return  to  their  own  convent  in  Bologna. 
It  was  intended  that  this  order  should  reach 
San  Marco  before  the  papal  brief.  By  what 
has  been  termed  "a  happy  circumstance," 
though  Savonarola  fully  believed  that  it  was 
by  the  intervention  of  Divine  Providence,  the 
order  had  been  addressed  to  the  superior  of 
the  convent  at  Fiesole,  with  the  request  that  he 
communicate  with  the  brothers  concerned  in  San 
Marco.  The  superior  to  whom  the  letter  was  ad- 
dressed was  away  from  the  convent,  and  the  im- 
portant and  urgent  message  did  not  reach  San 
Marco  until  more  than  a  week  after  it  was  due. 


n6  GIROLAO  SAVONAROLA. 


It  was  then  to  no  purpose.  The  brief  had  arrived 
and  San  Marco  was  now  the  head  of  the  congre- 
gation of  Tuscany,  subject  only  to  Rome  and  the 
general  of  the  order.  Savonarola  was  re-elected 
prior,  and  on  the  I5th  of  May,  by  the  action  of  the 
General  of  the  Order  of  Dominicans,  he  was  made 
provincial.  This  not  only  gave  him  independence 
in.  San  Marco,  but  gave  him  power  in  all  the  mon- 
asteries related  to  San  Marco  in  the  province  of 
Tuscany.  Everything  the  prior  desired  had  now 
been  accomplished  and  he  was  ready  to  begin  the 
reforms  which  he  felt  to  be  necessary. 

Savonarola  had  thought,  at  one  time,  of  taking 
his  brother  monks  to  some  mountain  place  where  in 
solitude  he  might  with  them  live  a  pure  and  holy 
life,  utterly  apart  from  the  world.  But  his  maturer 
view  was  very  different.  It  had  nothing  whatever 
of  the  ascetic  about  it.  "It  was  not  a  question  of 
forsaking  the  world,  but  of  living  in  its  midst  in 
order  to  purify  it  ;  it  was  his  business  to  train  men, 
not  to  be  good  hermits,  but  worthy  monks,  living  an 
exemplary  life,  and  ready  to  shed  their  blood  for 
the  salvation  of  souls.  To  purify  manners,  rekindle 
faith,  and  reform  the  Church,  were  the  subjects 
Savonarola  sought  to  promote."  The  first  reform 
established  in  the  monastery  was  the  restoring  of 
the  old  order  of  St.  Dominic  which  forbade  the 
holding  of  property.  St.  Dominic's  last  words  to 
his  disciples  had  been,  "Have  chanty,  preserve  hu- 
mility, observe  voluntary  poverty.  May  my  male- 
diction and  that  of  God  fall  upon  him  that  shall 
bring  possessions  to  this  order."  These  words,  in 
good  clear  letters,  were  still  written  on  the  cloister 


REFORMS  BEGIN.  117 

walls  of  San  Marco,  but  since  the  days  of  An- 
tonino  they  had  been  disregarded.  A  change  in 
the  constitution  had  made  it  possible  for  the  mon- 
astery to  hold  property,  and  San  Marco  became 
wealthy. 

In  restoring  the  old  order  by  which  the  vow 
of  poverty  was  made  binding,  all  the  property  which 
had  come  into  the  possession  of  the  monastery  in 
violation  of  St.  Dominic's  command  was  now  sold. 
Then  came  the  problem  of  providing  an  income 
sufficient  to  maintain  the  society.  Savonarola  be- 
gan by  reducing  the  cost  of  living.  Ornaments, 
fine  cloth,  and  expensive  furniture  were  all  forbid- 
den; illuminated  books,  gold  and  silver  crucifixes, 
and  the  like,  were  prohibited.  The  reforming 
prior  did  not  ask  others  to  do  what  he  did  not  do 
himself.  In  his  cell  even  now  may  be  seen  evi- 
dences of  his  simple  mode  of  living — the  rosary,  the 
wooden  crucifix,  the  cloak,  the  undergarment,  and 
the  hair  shirt.  All  these  tell  more  loudly  than  words 
how  Savonarola  was  an  example  to  those  under  his 
spiritual  care. 

The  reorganization  had  its  positive  side  as 
well.  The  practice  of  manual  labor  was  in- 
troduced, the  study  of  painting  and  sculpture,  and 
the  art  of  writing  and  illuminating  manuscripts 
were  encouraged.  "The  result,"  according  to  Father 
Marchese,  "was  that  this  convent,  and  the  others 
which  became  associated  with  it,  produced  a  num- 
ber of  distinguished  painters,  sculptors,  architects, 
modelers,  brass-founders  and  wood-carvers." 

With  much  enthusiasm  Savonarola  gave  his  at- 
tention to  the  raising  of  the  standard  of  education 


n8  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

in  the  monastery,  being  particularly  careful  to  em- 
phasize the  education  which  would  fit  the  brothers 
for  the  ministry  of  preaching.  "Three  branches  of 
study,"  this  also  from  Father  Marchese,  "were  car- 
ried on  at  San  Marco  under  the  guidance  of  Fra 
Girolamo — scholastic  theology,  moral  theology,  and 
Holy  Scripture.  To  the  first  only  a  very  few  were 
admitted.  Those  who  were  less  gifted  he  advised 
to  apply  themselves  to  the  study  of  moral  theology. 
But  most  earnestly  he  inculcated  on  all  the  study 
of  the  Holy  Scripture,  and  that  this  might  be  pur- 
sued with  profit  he  made  provision  for  the  teaching 
of  Hebrew,  Syriac  and  Chaldee."  It  will  be  seen 
from  this  that  Savonarola  expected  his  brother 
monks  not  simply  to  read  the  Bible  but  to  give  it 
serious  study,  and  not  in  the  scholastic  language 
only,  the  Latin,  but  in  such  Oriental  languages  as 
would  throw  light  on  its  meaning.  One  reason  for 
teaching  the  Syriac  and  the  Chaldee  was  that  he 
might  later  fulfill  his  holy  purpose  of  preaching  the 
Gospel  to  the  Turk. 

There  seems  to  have  been  no  friction  whatever 
in  carrying  out  these  reforms.  The  manifest  sin- 
cerity and  earnestness  of  the  prior,  and  the  con- 
tagion of  his  enthusiasm,  seemed  ,to  pervade  the 
entire  convent.  Every  friar  caught  something  of 
his  spirit  and  the  monastery  prospered.  Within  a 
few  years  the  number  of  friars  increased  from  fifty 
to  nearly  three  hundred,  so  that  the  original  build- 
ing was  too  small  to  contain  them.  Men  of  the 
noblest  families  of  Florence  came  to  the  gates  of 
the  monastery  and  prayed  to  be  admitted.  Not  less 
than  six  representatives  of  the  house  of  Strozzi 


REFORMS  BEGIN.  119 

occupied  cells  in  San  Marco.  Five  of  the  Bettini 
were  there.  The  names  of  Medici,  Tornabuoni, 
Vespucci,  and  Salviati,  are  found  in  the  list  of  mem- 
bers. It  is  hardly  too  much  to  say  that  during  the 
palmy  days  of  Savonarola  the  monastery  of  San 
Marco  was  the  pride  of  Florence. 

Some  in  the  city  and  many  outside  could  not 
comprehend  the  new  order  of  things.  A  letter 
written  about  this  time  to  an  abbess  of  Ferrara, 
throws  light  on  the  doubt  and  questionings  which 
were  arising  in  the  minds  of  many.  This  abbess 
had  .evidently  written  to  Savonarola  expressing 
doubt  as  to  the  wisdom  of  the  innovations.  In  reply 
he  said,  "It  is  quite  a  mistake  to  say  that  we  have 
entered  upon  a  new  mode  of  life.  A  return  to 
the  principles  and  example  of  our  saintly  predeces- 
sors is  not  the  adoption  of  a  new  mode  of  life.  .  .  . 
But  for  mendicants  to  build  themselves  palaces  with 
marble  columns ;  to  live  in  a  cell  handsome  enough 
for  a  prince;  to  hold  possessions  contrary  to  the 
profession  of  one's  Order;  to  wear  rich  cloth  in 
place  of  rough  serge;  to  pray  little;  to  wander 
hither  and  thither;  to  wish  to  be  poor  and  at  the 
same  time  to  want  for  nothing — these  things  are 
indeed  innovations  and  are  a  stumbling-block  to 
souls.  Our  first  fathers  lived  in  one  fashion,  our 
modern  fathers  live  in  another.  Let  every  one  make 
his  choice  between  the  old  style  and  the  new.  Our 
way  of  life,  instead  of  giving  scandal  here  in  Flor- 
ence, on  the  contrary,  gives  great  edification;  and 
yet  you  must  know  that  we  have  hardly  begun  to 
carry  out  what  we  intend."  "It  is  time,"  he  goes 
on  to  say,  "it  is  time,  it  is  indeed  time,  to  adopt  a 


120  GIROI,AMO  SAVONAROLA. 

singular  mode  of  life,  before  the  world  has  grown 
luke  warm,  so  that  God  may  well  say  in  the  words 
of  the  Apocalyse  'I  will  spew  thee  out  of  My 
mouth/  " 

If  the  Reformer  sometimes  seemed  stern  and 
severe  in  the  pulpit,  and  as  he  walked  the  streets 
of  Florence,  his  relations  with  the  monks  and  with 
visitors  who  came  frequently  to  the  convent,  were 
always  most  cordial  and  friendly.  "The  natural 
gravity  of  his  disposition  was  softened  by  a  gentle 
graciousness,  which  seldom  failed  to  beget  a  warm 
affection  in  those  closely  associated  with  him.  He 
could  unbend  from  his  usual  austerity  of  mien,  and 
enter  with  genial  freedom  into  the  pleasantries  and 
pastimes  of  the  brothers  in  their  hours  of  recrea- 
tion. Occasionally  he  would  take  them  out  for  a 
day's  excursion  into  the  country,  choosing  some  se- 
cluded spot  where  they  could  enjoy  the  beauties  of 
nature  undisturbed;  and  there  he  would  freely  join 
with  them  in  their  simple  repast  under  a  shady 
tree,  read  to  them,  sing  with  them,  and  look  on 
with  frank  and  easy  good  humor  at  the  sports  in 
which  the  novices  sought  vent  for  their  youthful 
spirits  and  energies ;  endearing  himself  to  them  all 
by  his  winning  brotherliness  and  humanity." 

The  months  following  the  Lent  of  1492  were 
full  of  thrilling  events.  The  death  of  Lorenzo  and 
the  accession  of  Piero  the  "mad,"  the  death  of 
Innocent  VIII  and  the  unholy  coronation  of  Alex- 
ander VI,  the  portentous  visions  of  the  white  and 
black  crosses  and  the  Gladius  Domini,  the  trying 
experience  of  Bologna,  the  hotly  contested  battle 
for  the  independence  of  San  Marco,  the  transforma- 


REFORMS  BEGIN.  121 

tions  begun  in  the  monastery  through  the  restora- 
tion of  the  old  order,  and  the  increasing  devotion 
and  enthusiasm  of  the  people,  who  now  openly  de- 
clared that  the  Prior  of  San  Marco  was  a  true 
prophet  of  God, — all  these  events  quickly  crowded 
together,  and  the  responsibility  of  the  mission  under 
which  he  staggered,  must  have  been  almost  over- 
whelming as  Savonarola  began  the  Advent  sermons 
of  1493. 

In  these  sermons  we  probably  see  Savonarola's 
preaching  at  its  best,  so  far  at  least  as  the  best  in 
his  preaching  can  be  reproduced  in  cold  type.  The 
gleam  and  flash  of  the  orator's  eye  and  the  weird 
fascination  and  power  of  his  clear,  penetrating,  and 
thrilling  voice,  can  not  be  put  down  on  the  page  of  a 
book.  They  can  only  be  felt.  The  subject  of  these 
sermons  was  the  seventy-third  Psalm.  Texts  for 
twenty-five  sermons  Savonarola  found  in  this  one 
Psalm,  and  they  were  all  suggestive  of  the  message 
he  felt  called  of  God  to  bring  to  the  people.  "The 
infamous  manners  of  princes  and  priests  of  Italy," 
"The  corruption  of  the  Church,"  "The  approach  of 
the  threatened  scourge,"  "The  anxiety  of  the  right- 
eous to  put  an  end  to  the  general  depravity," — all 
these  themes  were  in  this  Psalm.  In  these  sermons 
Savonarola  gave  almost  a  complete  exposition  of 
his  doctrines.  He  set  forth  in  clear  and  explicit 
terms  the  nature  and  character  of  the  reforms  which 
he  hoped  to  see  brought  about  in  Florence  and  in  all 
Italy,  and  then  throughout  Europe.  His  was  a 
comprehensive  purpose.  He  dreamed  of  a  regen- 
eration which  would  revive  the  whole  Church  and 
bring  Constantinople  again  within  the  Christian 


122  GlROLAMO    SAVONAROLA. 

fold.  Even  in  this  age,  so  dark  morally  and  spirit- 
ually, Savonarola  had  the  spirit  of  the  true  mis- 
sionary of  the  first  century  and  the  twentieth.  He 
believed  that  the  doctrine  he  preached  was  for  all 
men,  but  he  would  begin  in  Florence. 

In  order  to  understand  the  later  career  of  Savon- 
arola it  is  important  that  the  sermons  of  this  Advent 
series  shall  be  studied  with  care.  The  key-note  was 
sounded  in  one  of  the  earliest  of  them  when  the 
preacher  addressed  himself  to  the  clergy.  "They 
tickle  men's  ears  when  they  talk  of  Aristotle  and 
Plato,  Virgil  and  Petrarch,  and  take  no  concern  for 
the  salvation  of  souls.  Why,  instead  of  expounding 
so  many  books,  do  they  not  expound  the  one  Book 
in  which  is  the  law  and  spirit  of  life !  The  Gospels, 
O  Christians,  you  should  ever  have  with  you;  not 
merely  the  letter,  but  the  spirit  of  the  Gospels,  for 
if  thou  hast  not  the  spirit  of  grace,  what  will  it 
avail  to  carry  about  the  whole  Book?  And,  again, 
still  greater  is  the  foolishness  of  those  that  load 
themselves  with  briefs  and  tracts  and  writings,  so 
that  they  are  like  unto  stalls  at  a  fair.  Charity  does 
not  consist  in  written  papers,  the  true  books  of 
Christ  are  the  apostles  and  the  saints ;  the  true  read- 
ing of  them,  is  to  imitate  their  lives."  -• 

No  preacher  was  ever  more  emphatically  a  man 
of  one  book.  Perhaps  the  finest  thing  ever  said 
about  him  as  a  student  of  the  Bible  is  this :  "By 
force  of  study  and  meditation  he  had  ceased  to 
regard  the  Bible  as  a  book.  It  was  a  world,  a 
living,  speaking,  infinite  world,  in  which  the  past, 
present  and  future  were  all  revealed  to  him."  This 
is  beautifully  illustrated  in  the  following  paragraph 
from  one  of  his  sermons,  in  which  he  seems  to  talk 


REFORMS  BEGIN.  123 

with  the  saints  whom  he  is  addressing  as  though 
they  were  actually  there  in  the  Duomo.  "Tell  me, 
O  Peter,  tell  me,  O  Magdalen,  wherefore  are  you 
in  Paradise?  You  sinned  even  as  we  sin.  Thou, 
Peter,  who  hadst  testified  unto  the  Son  of  God, 
hadst  conversed  with  Him,  heard  Him  preach,  be- 
held His  miracles,  and,  alone,  with  two  other  dis- 
ciples, hadst  beheld  His  transfiguration  on  Mt. 
Tabor,  harkened  unto  His  paternal  voice ;  and  who, 
despite  all  this,  at  the  word  of  a  base  woman  didst 
deny  Him  thrice,  yet  thou  art  restored  to  grace, 
and  made  the  head  of  the  Church,  and  dost  now 
enjoy  heavenly  bliss ;  how  hast  thou  gained  these 
guerdons?  Confess  that  not  by  thine  own  merits 
hast  thou  attained  salvation,  but  by  the  goodness  of 
God,  who  didst  bestow  so  many  blessings  on  thee, 
and  vouchsafed  to  thee  in  this  life  so  much  light 
and  grace.  And  thou,  Magdalen,  once  called  the  sin- 
ner, thou  didst  hearken  many  times  to  the  preach- 
ing of  thy  master,  Jesus  Christ,  and  nevertheless 
wert  deaf  to  His  words,  .  .  .  but  when  it  pleased 
the  Lord,  and  He  touched  thy  heart,  thou  didst 
hasten  as  in  a  frenzy,  with  thy  vase  of  alabaster, 
to  the  house  of  the  Pharisee,  and,  casting  thyself 
at  the  sweet  Master's  feet,  didst  bathe  them  with 
thy  tears,  and  wast  deemed  worthy  to  hear  the 
sweet  words — 'Thy  sins  which  are  many  are  for- 
given.' Later,  thou  wast  so  favored  by  the  Saviour 
as  to  be  the  first  to  behold  Him  risen  from  the  dead, 
and  wert  made  an  apostle  unto  the  apostles.  This 
grace,  these  gifts,  were  not  vouchsafed  to  thee  for 
thy  deserts,  O  Mary!  but  because  God  loved  thee 
and  willed  thy  salvation." 


124  GiROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

It  is  in  such  paragraphs  as  the  above  that  certain 
German  and  English  writers  have  found  evidence 
to  support  the  theory  that  Savonarola  was  a  pre- 
curser  of  the  reformation  in  preaching  the  doctrine 
of  justification  by  faith.  Their  position  is  utterly 
without  foundation,  as  every  careful  student  will 
agree,  who  has  examined  Savonarola's  sermons. 
In  doctrine  Savonarola  was  a  good  Catholic.  The 
source  of  his  teaching,  however,  was  not  the  Church 
fathers  but  the  Bible.  This  gave  him  a  freedom 
in  preaching  which  slaves  to  the  doctrines  of  the 
Church  did  not  have  and  could  not  have.  There 
was  a  freshness  about  his  words.  Some  of  his  dis- 
tinctions are  fine.  "We  must  not,"  says  he,  "con- 
demn the  sinner,  but  only  his  sins,  and  must  have 
compassion  on  him;  for  so  long  as  free  will  and 
the  grace  of  God  endure,  he  may  always  turn  to 
the  Lord  and  be  converted."  He  was  ever  a  match 
for  the  philosophers  in  his  audience.  "If  any  one 
asks,"  said  he,  "why  the  will  is  free,  we  reply  unto 
them,  Because  it  is  will."  Human  responsibility 
was  ever  made  prominent  in  his  preaching.  He 
taught  that  man  must  needs  co-operate  in  the  act 
of  justification,  and  do  all  that  in  him  lies,  for  God 
will  not  fail  him.  If  a  brother  would  fain  receive 
the  love  of  Jesus  Christ  he  must  first  hearken  unto 
the  Divine  voice  of  the  Lord,  which  was  daily  call- 
ing unto  him.  God  could  not  do  it  all.  Man  must 
do  somewhat  for  himself." 

No  preacher  has  ever  surpassed  Savonarola  in 
the  effective  preaching  of  the  beauty  and  power  of 
Divine  love.  Two  illustrations,  here  given,  will 
suggest  his  method.  "Take,  for  instance,"  this  he 


REFORMS  BEGIN.  125 

said  in  one  of  his  sermons,  "the  physician  that 
bringeth  love  and  charity  to  the  sick,  for,  if  he  be 
good  and  kind,  and  learned  and  skillful,  none  can 
be  better  than  he.  Thou  wilt  see  that  love  teacheth 
him  everything,  and  will  be  the  measure  and  rule 
of  all  the  measures  and  rules  of  medicine.  He 
will  endure  a  thousand  fatigues  as  though  they  were 
of  no  account,  will  inquire  into  everything,  and 
will  order  his  remedies  and  see  them  prepared,  and 
will  never  leave  the  sick  man.  If  instead,  gain  be 
his  object,  he  will  have  no  care  for  the  sufferer, 
and  his  very  skill  will  fail  him."  This  description 
of  the  spirit  of  the  true  physician  is  certainly  a 
noble  utterance.  To  many  it  will  suggest  the  char- 
acter of  Dr.  MacLure.  Savonarola's  early  studies 
he  never  forgot,  and  to  the  day  of  his  death  he  had 
a  high  and  exalted  conception  of  the  noble  pro- 
fession of  medicine.  What  an  ideal  he  holds  up 
for  the  physician  in  the  words,  "Love  will  be  the 
measure  and  rule  of  all  the  measures  and  rules  of 
medicine !" 

"Behold  what  love  can  effect."  This  is  quoted 
from  the  same  sermon  as  the  foregoing.  "Take  the 
example  of  the  mother  with  the  child.  Who  hath 
taught  this  young  woman,  who  hath  had  no  chil- 
dren before,  to  nurse  her  babe?  Love.  See  what 
fatigue  she  endureth  by  day  and  by  night  to  rear 
it,  and  how  the  heaviest  fatigue  seemeth  light  to 
her.  What  is  the  cause  of  this?  It  is  love.  See 
what  ways  she  hath,  what  loving  caresses  and  sweet 
words  for  this  little  babe  of  hers !  What  hath 
taught  her  these  things  ?  Love.  Take  the  example 
of  Christ,  who,  moved  by  the  deepest  charity,  came 


126  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

to  us  as  a  little  child,  in  all  things  like  unto  the 
sons  of  men,  and  submitted  to  hunger  and  thirst, 
to  heat  and  cold  and  discomfort.  What  hath  urged 
Him  to  do  this?  Love.  He  spoke  now  with  just 
men,  now  with  publicans  and  sinners,  and  He  led  a 
life  that  all  men  and  all  women,  small  and  great, 
rich  and  poor,  may  imitate ;  all  after  their  own  way 
and  according  to  their  condition,  and  thus  un- 
doubtedly win  their  salvation.  And  what  made  Him 
lead  so  poor  and  marvelous  a  life?  Undoubtedly, 
love.  Love  bound  Him  to  the  pillar,  love  led  Him 
to  the  cross,  love  raised  Him  from  the  dead  and 
made  Him  ascend  into  heaven,  and  thus  accomplish 
all  the  mysteries  of  our  redemption." 

Savonarola  had  a  genius  for  taking  the  familiar 
and  the  common-place  to  illustrate  the  highest 
Christian  truths  and  virtues.  In  sweetness  and 
gentleness  of  spirit  he  made  heaven  come  near  to 
men  and  unfolded  the  mysteries  of  Divine  love; 
he  also  rebuked  sin  and  cried  out  with  mighty 
voice  against  unrighteousness.  In  burning  words 
he  described  the  princes  of  Italy  as  "wicked  princes 
sent  to  chastise  the  sins  of  their  subjects;"  princes 
whose  "courts  and  palaces  were  the  refuge  of  all 
the  beasts  and  monsters  of  the  earth ;"  princes 
whose  evil  doings  were  only  matched  by  the  flat- 
tering philosophers  and  poets"  and  the  "priests 
who  follow  in  the  same  course."  These  made  up 
the  "City  of  Impious  and  Foolish,"  whom  God 
would  destroy.  They  behold  light  and  darkness, 
and  they  prefer  darkness  to  light.  Here  follows 
one  of  the  most  striking  of  all  his  illustrations. 
"Behold  now,"  speaking  of  the  princes  of  Italy, 


REFORMS  BEGIN.  127 

"behold  now,  they  plunge  into  the  sea  and  mount 
upon  a  whale,  which  they  believe  to  be  a  rock, 
and  they  settle  upon  it.  What  generation  of  men 
is  this?  What  purpose  can  be  theirs?  especially 
as  I  would  have  you  to  know  that  they  intend  to 
build  a  city  on  the  whale's  back.  What  would  ye? 
I  say.  You  will  weigh  down  the  beast  and  will 
drown.  Nevertheless,  they  labor  and  dispute,  build 
fortifications  and  come  to  blows,  and  one  seeks  to 
subjugate  the  other,  and  finally  there  arrives  a 
tyrant  to  oppress  them  all.  He  persecutes  his 
enemies  to  the  death,  has  spies  everywhere,  hence 
there  are  fresh  wars  and  fresh  dissensions.  At  last 
the  whale,  wearied  by  all  this  tumult,  makes  a 
plunge,  and  thereupon  all  are  drowned,  and  the  city 
of  Babylon  is  destroyed."  "Thus,"  concludes  Sa- 
vonarola, "it  is  made  manifest  that  the  impious 
perish  by  the  labors  of  the  foolish,  and  that  the 
foolish  shall  be  chastised."  The  preacher  did  not 
have  to  explain  to  his  audience  the  meaning  of  this 
illustration.  The  people  knew  that  the  "City  of 
Fools"  was  none  other  than  the  unstable  govern- 
ment of  Piero  de'  Medici,  which  was  already  going 
so  badly  that  it  was  hardly  necessary  for  a  prophet 
to  predict  its  overthrow. 

In  this  series  of  Advent  sermons  Savonarola 
discussed  all  the  themes  included  in  his  three  great 
propositions.  Politics,  morals,  religion,  and  the 
Church,  all  came  in  for  their  share.  Perhaps  his 
strongest  words  were  against  the  clergy,  the  "bad 
shepherds  of  the  flock  of  Christ."  "See,"  he  cried 
out,  "how  in  these  days  prelates  and  preachers  are 
chained  to  the  earth  by  love  of  earthly  things;  the 


128  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

cure  of  souls  is  no  longer  their  concern;  they  are 
content  with  the  receipt  of  revenue;  the  preachers 
preach  for  the  pleasure  of  princes,  to  be  praised  and 
magnified  by  them.  Go  thou  to  Rome  and  through- 
out Christendom  in  the  mansions  of  the  great 
prelates  and  great  lords,  there  is  no  concern  save 
for  poetry  and  the  oratorical  art.  Go  thither  and 
see,  thou  shalt  find  them  all  with  books  of  human- 
ities in  their  hands,  and  telling  one  another  that 
they  can  guide  men's  souls  by  means  of  Virgil, 
Horace,  and  Cicero.  Wouldst  thou  see  how  the 
Church  is  ruled  by  the  hands  of  astrologers?  And 
there  is  no  prelate  nor  great  lord  that  hath  not 
intimate  dealings  with  some  astrologer,  who  fixeth 
the  hour  and  the  moment  in  which  he  is  to  ride 
out  or  undertake  some  piece  of  business.  For  these 
great  lords  venture  not  to  stir  a  step  save  at  their 
astrologer's  bidding." 

"Our  Church,"  he  went  on  to  say,  "hath  many 
fine  outer  ceremonies  for  the  solemnization  of  ec- 
clesiastical rites,  grand  vestments  and  numerous 
draperies,  with  gold  and  silver  candlesticks,  and  so 
many  chalices  that  it  is  a  majestic  sight  to  behold. 
There  thou  seest  the  great  prelates  with  splendid 
miters  of  gold  and  precious  stones  on  their  heads, 
and  silver  crosiers  in  hand ;  there  they  stand  at  the 
altar,  decked  with  fine  copes  and  stoles  of  brocade, 
chanting  those  beautiful  vespers  and  masses  very 
slowly,  and  with  so  many  grand  ceremonies,  so 
many  organs  and  choristers,  that  thou  art  struck 
with  amazement;  and  all  these  priests  seem  to  thee 
grave  and  saintly  men;  thou  canst  not  believe  that 
they  may  be  in  error,  but  deem  that  all  which  they 


REFORMS  BEGIN.  129 

say  and  do  should  be  obeyed  as  the  Gospel;  and 
thus  is  our  Church  conducted.  Men  feed  upon  these 
vanities  and  rejoice  in  these  pomps,  and  say  that 
the  Church  of  Christ  was  never  so  flourishing,  nor 
Divine  worship  so  well  conducted  as  at  present. 
Likewise  that  the  former  prelates  were  inferior  to 
these  of  our  own  times.  The  former,  it  is  true,  had 
fewer  gold  miters  and  fewer  chalices,  for,  indeed, 
what  few  they  possessed  were  broken  up  to  relieve 
the  needs  of  the  poor ;  whereas  our  prelates  for  the 
sake  of  obtaining  chalices,  will  rob  the  poor  of  their 
sole  means  of  support.  But  dost  thou  know  what 
I  would  tell  thee?"  Here  follows  a  striking  sen- 
tence which  has  been  widely  quoted :  "In  the  primi- 
tive church  the  chalices  were  of  wood,  the  prelates 
of  gold;  in  these  days  the  Church  hath  chalices  of 
gold  and  prelates  of  wood."  No  word  of  comment 
is  needed  on  such  preaching  as  this.  Savonarola 
simply  told  the  people  what  many  of  them  knew, 
that  back  of  all  the  show  and  pomp  there  was  in- 
sincerity and  uncleanness,  greed  of  gain  and  a 
pagan  spirit. 

In  the  twenty-third  sermon  of  this  series,  after 
the  preacher  had  again  and  again  cried  out  against 
the  frightful  corruptions  of  the  Church,  he  appealed 
to  heaven  and  called  out  to  the  Almighty,  "What 
doest  thou,  O  Lord?  Why  dost  thou  slumber? 
Arise,  and  come  to  deliver  Thy  Church  from  the 
hands  of  the  devils,  from  the  hands  of  tyrants,  the 
hands  of  iniquitous  prelates.  Hast  Thou  forsaken 
Thy  Church  ?  Dost  Thou  not  love  her  ?  Is  she  not 
dear  unto  Thee?  O  Lord,  we  are  becoming  the 
despised  of  all  nations;  the  Turks  are  masters  of 
9 


GlROLAMO   SAVONAROIvA. 

Constantinople ;  we  have  lost  Asia,  have  lost  Greece, 
we  already  pay  tribute  to  the  Infidel.  O  Lord  God, 
Thou  hast  dealt  with  us  as  a  wrathful  father,  Thou 
hast  cast  us  out  from  Thy  presence !  Hasten  then 
the  chastisement  and  the  scourge,  that  it  may  be 
quickly  granted  us  to  return  unto  Thee." 

At  the  close  of  these  sermons  Savonarola  was 
widely  recognized  not  only  as  a  wonderful  preacher 
and  a  prophet  of  God,  but  as  a  true  and  mighty 
champion  of  liberty;  a  man  who  would  plead  the 
cause  of  the  people.  In  the  following  spring  the 
Lenten  sermons  were  a  continuation  of  the  series 
he  had  begun  two  years  before  on  Noah's  ark, 
which  he  described  in  its  allegorical  sense  as  por- 
traying the  gathering  together  of  the  righteous  of 
the  earth.  Its  length  represented  faith,  its  width 
charity,  its  height  hope.  Every  day  he  gave  some  dif- 
ferent interpretation  of  ten  of  the  planks  of  which 
the  ark  was  composed.  On  Easter  morning,  and 
when  expectation  was  aroused  to  a  high  pitch,  he 
declared  the  ark  to  be  completed  and  closed  his 
sermon  with  these  words:  "Let  all  hasten  to  enter 
into  the  Lord's  ark.  Noah  invites  you  all  to-day, 
the  door  stands  open;  but  a  time  will  come  when 
the  ark  will  be  closed,  and  mariy  will  repent  in 
vain  of  not  having  entered  therein." 

It  occasioned  no  little  surprise  in  Florence  that 
the  preacher  devoted  so  much  time  to  the  theme 
of  the  ark  and  its  building,  and  men  were  curious 
to  know  what  he  meant  by  the  talk  about  the  coming 
of  a  new  Cyrus  who  would  march  through  Italy 
in  triumph.  Surprise  was  increased  when  in  the 
autumn  the  preacher  again  took  up  the  theme  on 


REFORMS  BKGIN.  131 

which  he  had  delayed  so  long  during  the  previous 
Lent. 

On  the  2 1st  of  September  he  preached  the  third 
sermon  in  this  third  series  on  the  ark.  The  day 
was  destined  to  be  a  memorable  one  for  Savon- 
arola and  for  Florence.  The  crowd  in  the  Duomo 
had  been  waiting  since  early  morning.  On  enter- 
ing the  pulpit  the  preacher  could  not  fail  to  notice 
the  extraordinary  agitation.  He  was  himself  agi- 
tated. In  a  voice,  the  like  of  which  had  never  been 
heard  in  the  Duomo,  he  announced  his  text,  "Be- 
hold, I  will  bring  a  flood  of  waters  upon  the  earth." 
A  strange  alarm  seemed  to  sweep  over  the  audi- 
ence. Pico  della  Mirandola  declared  afterwards 
that  he  felt  a  cold  shiver  run  over  him,  and  that 
his  hair  stood  on  end.  The  delay  in  getting  to  the 
end  of  the  series  of  the  sermons,  which  Savonarola 
had  not  been  able  to  understand,  was  now  made 
plain.  The  night  before  there  had  come  to  Florence 
the  startling  announcement  that  Charles  VIII  of 
France  was  crossing  the  Alps  to  conquer  Italy. 


CHAPTER    XL 

CHARLES  VIII  OF  FRANCE  INVADES 
ITALY. 

THE  flood  had  come  with  the  French  king.  So 
Savonarola  believed.  This  was  the  scourge  he  had 
been  prophesying,  the  scourge  which  would  come 
upon  Italy  and  the  Church;  upon  Italy,  to  punish 
the  princes  and  the  people  for  their  sins ;  upon  the 
Church,  to  punish  and  regenerate.  Charles  VIII 
was  the  messenger  of  God  and  the  scourge  of  God. 
Savonarola  had  no  doubt  about  this.  Here  at  last 
was  the  power  which  would  "break  the  spreading 
wings."  It  is  not  at  all  strange  then  that  on  the 
morning  after  the  announcement  of  the  coming  of 
Charles  he  preached  the  sermon  he  did,  to  the  ex- 
cited audience  packed  in  the  Duomo,  from  the  text, 
"Behold,  I  bring  a  flood  of  waters  upon  the  earth." 
The  effect  of  this  sermon  and  of  others  which  fol- 
lowed will  be  described  later. 

The  political  situation  which  led  to  the  coming 
of  Charles  VIII  was  briefly  this :  There  was  a  crown 
in  Naples  then  worn  by  Alfonso,  son  of  Ferdinand, 
which  Charles  had  been  persuaded  belonged  to  him. 
This  Charles,  a  son  of  Louis  XI,  was  then  only 
twenty-two  years  of  age,  and  had  just  come  to  the 
French  throne.  His  supposed  claim  to  the  crown 
of  Alfonso  came  through  the  recent  death  of  Rene 
of  Anjou,  giving  the  province  of  that  name,  with 

132 


CHARLES  VIII  OF  FRANCE.  133 

all  Angevin  rights  to  the  Neapolitan  throne,  to  the 
French  king.  Interested  parties  persuaded  Charles 
that  his  claim  was  good.  Alexander  VI,  ever  ready 
to  lend  his  favor  to  any  enterprise  which  promised 
advantage  to  himself  or  his  family,  and  looking  with 
greedy  eye  on  the  possible  outcome  of  a  French  in- 
vasion, gave  encouragement  to  Charles  and  prom- 
ised him  support.  If  the  invasion  offered  oppor- 
tunity for  gaining  personal  ends  he  was  ready  for 
it.  He  knew  he  could  change  his  attitude  later  if 
he  wanted  to:  treaties  and  alliances  were  easily 
made  and  as  easily  unmade.  Perhaps  the  march 
of  Charles  through  Italy  might  add  a  few  princi- 
palities to  the  domains  of  his  ambitious  sons  and 
daughters.  If  so  he  was  in  favor  of  it. 

The  most  urgent  invitation  which  Charles  re- 
ceived came  from  Ludovico  Sforza,  of  Milan,  more 
familiarly  known  as  Ludovico,  the  Moor.  Ludo- 
vico had  strong  reasons  for  wanting  Charles  to 
forcibly  claim  the  Neapolitan  crown,  and  that  right 
speedily.  His  own  power  in  Milan  was  in  danger. 
It  is  hard  to  understand  how  a  man  so  inordinately 
ambitious  as  Ludovico  was  should  also  be  a  prey 
to  fear.  That  he  was  dominated  by  ambition 
nobody  doubted,  and  his  duplicity  and  bad  faith 
were  a  matter  of  common  remark  throughout  Italy. 
He  resorted  to  every  conceivable  method  to  put 
enemies  out  of  the  way  and  increase  his  own  per- 
sonal power.  Just  vain  enough  to  consider  himself 
a  master  of  Statecraft,  he  was  forever  devising 
schemes  to  crush  his  enemies  and  use  his  friends. 
If  we  may  accept  his  own  estimate  of  himself,  he 
was  the  craftiest  politician  in  Italy.  But  knowing 


134  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

as  he  did  the  mesh-work  of  lies  which  characterized 
all  his  relations  with  the  other  princes  of  Italy,  it 
was  only  natural  that  he  should  at  times  be  dom- 
inated by  fear.  At  this  particular  time  his  fear 
had  reached  a  point  where  it  was  mingled  with 
terror  and  alarm.  The  rightful  heir  to  the  dukedom, 
Giovanni  Galeazzo  was  a  prisoner  in  Pavia,  put 
there  and  kept  there  by  Ludovico.  The  wife  of 
Galeazzo  was  Isabella  of  Aragon,  daughter  of  Al- 
fonso of  Naples.  The  grievous  and  outrageous 
wrongs  to  her  husband  Isabella  described  at  length 
to  Alfonso,  her  father,  and  to  her  grandfather, 
Ferdinand,  and  published  .them  to  all  Italy.  Al- 
fonso, proud  of  the  prestige  of  his  own  house,  had 
more  than  once  threatened  Ludovico  that  he  would 
bring  his  armies  and  drive  him  from  his  place  of 
power  and  take  from  him  his  ill-gotten  gains.  The 
time  had  now  come  when  it  looked  as  though  Al- 
fonso might  be  able  to  carry  out  his  threat. 

Ludovico  was  in  agonies  of  fear.  He  had  al- 
ready failed  in  a  bold  scheme  to  win  the  favor  of 
Alexander  VI.  The  scheme  he  had  proposed  was 
that  the  representatives  of  the  three  powers  which 
composed  the  old  triple  alliance — Florence,  Naples 
and  Milan — should  visit  Rome  at  the  same  time, 
to  pay  their  respects  to  the  new  pope.  PierO'de 
Medici  had  his  own  ambitious  plans,  and  induced 
Alfonso  to  decline  Ludovico's  invitation.  It  was 
just  then,  when  in  sheer  desperation  and  under 
mortal  fear  of  what  might  happen  at  any  moment, 
that  Ludovico,  with  a  shrewdness  worthy  of  the 
most  astute  politician,  decided  to  invite  the  French 
king  to  enter  Italy  and  undertake  with  his  help  the 


CHARGES  VIII  OF  FRANCE.  135 

conquest  of  the  Neapolitan  kingdom,  and  thus  gain 
the  crown  which  rightfully  belonged  to  him  since 
the  death  of  Rene  of  Anjoti.  "This,"  says  a  recent 
Italian  writer,  "proved  to  be  the  beginning  of  the 
long  string  of  disasters  which  was  to  desolate  Italy 
for  ages  to  come,  destroy  her  commercial  prosper- 
ity, stifle  her  literary  and  scientific  culture,  and  ex- 
tinguish every  spark  of  her  liberty." 

It  was  greatly  in  Charles'  favor  that  the  field 
of  opportunity  in  Italy  was  just  then  so  inviting. 
No  State  seemed  secure;  each  was  jealous  of  the 
other ;  princes  were  arrayed  against  the  people,  and 
the  people  arrayed  against  the  princes.  Ludovico 
could  hardly  help  seeing  what  everybody  else  saw, 
that  now  was  the  opportune  time  for  the  invader. 
More  than  one  of  the  surrounding  nations  must 
have  been  looking  with  jealous  eye  upon  Italy  at 
this  time.  The  Turks  were  only  waiting  the  oppor- 
tune moment ;  Spain  would  be  ready  as  soon  as  she 
finished  her  rejoicing  over  the  conquest  of  a  new 
world;  Germany  was  developing  a  military  power 
and  already  looking  for  something  for  it  to  do; 
Switzerland,  with  the  best  infantry  in  Europe, 
seemed  to  be  ready  for  anything  which  promised 
gain.  "All  of  these  nations,  including  France, 
deemed  it  unpardonable,"  says  a  proud-spirited 
Florentine,  "that  Italy  should  still  be  the  world's 
preceptress,  that  students  from  all  parts  of  Europe 
should  flock  to  her  universities ;  that  she  should  be 
the  sole  center  of  art  and  literature ;  that  her  man- 
ners should  be  imitated,  her  language  studied  in 
every  court  throughout  Christendom ;  that  the  writ- 
ers, artists,  philosophers,  physicians,  astrologers, 


136  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

and  navigators  of  Italy  should  still  surpass  all  others 
in  glory  as  much  as  her  princes  and  merchants 
eclipsed  all  others  in  wealth."  It  is  hardly  possible 
that  all  these  considerations  entered  into  the  think- 
ing of  the  nations  named.  Nevertheless,  this  land 
beyond  the  Alps,  with  its  song  and  story,  its  wealth 
and  traditions  of  political  prestige,  had  long  been 
the  envy  of  the  Northern  nations ! 

France,  under  Charles  VIII,  began  "the  mighty 
movement  that  was  to  bring  life  to  Europe  by  Italy's 
death."  This  invasion  Gibbon  describes  as  "An 
event  which  changed  the  face  of  Europe."  There 
was  little  about  Charles  personally  which  would 
lead  one  to  think  of  him  as  the  leader  of  a  campaign 
which  was  to  be  so  momentous  in  its  results.  He 
had  almost  no  education — hardly  knew  the  alpha- 
bet, was  physically  deformed,  and  seems  to  have 
been  almost  utterly  devoid  of  judgment.  But  he 
was  eager  to  rule  and  ambitious  to  immortalize  his 
name.  His  program  of  conquest  was  almost  be- 
wildering. It  included  a  crusade  against  the  Turks. 
The  conquest  of  Naples  and  the  relief,  as  he 
thought,  of  the  distressed  Neapolitans  was  only  in- 
cidental to  the  carrying  out  of  the  larger  work  to 
which  he  had  been  divinely  commissioned.  Charles 
did  not  receive  much  support  from  the  French 
barons.  Almost  to  a  man  they  were  against  the 
expedition.  They  knew  the  character  of  Ludovico, 
had  no  confidence  in  a  pope  so  vacillating  and 
changeable  as  Alexander  VI,  and  put  much  higher 
estimate  than  did  their  king  on  the  strength  of 
Alfonso.  Besides,  they  knew  that  Charles  was 
utterly  without  power  to  carry  on  a  difficult  cam- 


CHARLES  VIII  OP  FRANCE.  137 

paign,  and  that  the  French  treasury  was  empty. 
Under  these  circumstances  they  did  everything  in 
their  power  to  thwart  the  king's  purpose.  But 
Ludovico  was  urgent,  and  the  powerful  Cardinal 
Rovere,  afterwards  Pope  Julius  II,  favored  the  ex- 
pedition. This  was  enough  for  Charles. 

The  liberty-loving  men  of  Italy  looked  with 
favor  upon  the  coming  of  this  great  and  friendly 
king  from  the  North,  who  was  to  right  wrongs  and 
take  up  the  cause  of  the  oppressed.  The  expedition 
had  been  broached  by  envoys  sent  from  Charles,  so 
that  Italy  was  not  actually  taken  by  surprise. 
When,  however,  the  news  spread  that  he  had  act- 
ually crossed  the  Alps,  and  with  an  army  of  sixty 
thousand  men,  it  created  widespread  feeling  of 
uncertainty  and  unrest.  Stories  were  current  of  the 
great  guns  the  French  were  bringing,  of  the  im- 
mense number  of  Swiss  foot-soldiers,  and  of  the 
powerful  Scots,  terrible  to  look  at.  All  tended  to 
confusion  and  alarm. 

It  was  the  announcement  in  Florence  that 
Charles  VIII  had  crossed  the  Alps  with  great  and 
powerful  armies,  and  that  he  was  devastating  cities 
and  massacring  the  inhabitants  which  led  to  that 
notable  coming  together  of  the  people  in  the  Duomo 
to  hear  what  the  great  preacher  would  say  about  it. 
And  when  the  text  was  announced,  "Behold,  I  will 
bring  a  flood  of  waters  upon  the  earth,"  everybody 
in  the  Duomo  knew  that  the  rushing  and  roaring 
waters  were  near  at  hand.  Charles  VIII  was  the 
"flood."  The  preacher's  message  that  morning  was 
a  vindication  of  his  own  position,  and  of  his  own 
prophecies  so  oft  repeated.  It  was  also  a  call  to 


138  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

repentance.  God  would  favor  Florence,  so  he  told 
the  people,  if  the  people  would  repent  and  turn  to 
God,  but  the  wicked  would  be  punished. 

It  was  decided  that  Piero  and  a  delegation  of 
citizens  should  go  to  meet  Charles  in  his  camp  near 
Milan  to  find  out  definitely  whether  he  would  come 
to  Florence,  and  if  so  on  what  terms  he  would  enter 
the  city.  Piero,  beside  himself  with  fear  for  him- 
self and  his  family,  broke  away  from  the  delega- 
tion and  went  in  person  to  Charles  to  make  terms 
on  his  own  account.  He  was  received  coldly.  Fear- 
ful lest  everything  might  be  taken  from  him,  he 
promised  all  the  king  asked  and  more.  He  gave  up 
important  fortresses  purchased  by  Florence  at  im- 
mense cost,  and  promised  a  fine  of  200,000  florins, 
and  besides  this  offered  to  give  the  city  of  Florence, 
without  condition,  to  the  French  king.  When  the 
news  of  this  frightful  humiliation  reached  Florence 
the  excitement  was  intense.  To  the  liberty-loving 
citizens  the  time  had  come  to  throw  off  the  tyran- 
nical yoke  of  the  Medici  and  give  the  people  the 
right  to  govern  their  own  city. 

Again  the  people  crowded  to  the  Duomo  to  hear 
what  the  preacher  would  say.  One  revolutionary 
word  from  his  lips  and  Florence  would  have  been 
in  the  hands  of  a  mob.  Men  were  there  ready  .to 
sack,  burn,  or  destroy  anything  and  everything 
which  belonged  to  the  Medici.  The  memory  of 
sixty  years  of  tyranny's  fearful  bondage,  made  them 
eager  for  any  violence  or  bloodshed  which  would 
lead  them  towards  liberty.  Many  carried  concealed 
weapons  and  more  than  one  steel  corslet  was  hid- 
den under  the  closely  drawn  robes  of  outraged 


CHARLES  VIII  OF  FRANCE.  139 

Florentines  crowded  together  in  the  dimly-lighted 
Duomo.  Some  were  there  suspected  of  being  in 
sympathy  with  the  Medici,  others  ready  to  kill  any 
Medicean  adherent  on  the  spot,  and  for  the  glorious 
cause  of  liberty.  Wronged  men  were  there  who 
felt  keenly  that  revenge  ought  to  come  from  some 
source.  It  was  not  an  easy  task  to  speak  just  the 
right  word  to  such  an  audience.  The  very  air 
seemed  thick  with  uncertainty  and  distrust.  Yet 
there  was  expectancy,  too.  Was  not  Fra  Girolamo 
to  preach ! 

No  fitter  message  was  ever  brought  to  a  waiting 
congregation.  There  was  no  allusion  to  politics. 
Nothing  was  said  about  old  party  or  new  party. 
But  with  tremendous  earnestness  and  deep  feeling 
which  touched  and  moved  all  who  came  within  the 
sweep  of  his  mighty  and  persuasive  voice,  the 
preacher  pleaded  in  tones  of  sympathy,  and  with  a 
manner  which  made  him  seem  like  God's  man  as  he 
stood  in  the  pulpit,  pleaded  for  peace,  for  charity, 
and  for  union.  "Behold!"  he  cried,  and  his  voice 
reached  the  men  standing  under  the  farthest  doors 
of  the  Duomo,  "Behold !  the  sword  has  come  upon 
you,  and  the  prophecies  are  fulfilled.  The  scourge 
has  begun!  Behold!  these  hosts  are  led  by  the 
Lord,  O  Florence !  The  time  of  singing  and  danc- 
ing is  at  an  end ;  now  is  the  time  to  shed  floods  of 
tears  for  thy  sins.  Thy  sins,  O  Florence!  Thy 
sins,  O  Rome!  Thy  sins,  O  Italy!  They  have 
brought  these  chastisements  upon  thee!  Repent 
ye,  then ;  give  alms,  offer  up  prayers  and  be  united ! 
O  my  people !  I  have  long  been  as  a  father ;  I  have 
labored  all  the  days  of  my  life  to  teach  you  the 


140  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

truths  of  straight  and  of  Godly  living,  yet  I  have 
received  nothing  but  tribulation,  scorn  and  con- 
tumely; give  me  at  last  the  consolation  of  seeing 
you  do  good  deeds !  My  people,  what  desire  hath 
ever  been  mine  but  to  see  you  saved,  to  see  you 
united?  Repent. ye,  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is 
at  hand.  But  I  have  said  this  so  many  times,  and 
I  have  cried  to  you  so  many  times;  I  have  wept 
for  you,  O  Florence,  so  many  times,  that  it  should 
be  enough.  .  To  Thee,  I  turn  O  Lord,  to  Thee  who 
didst  die  for  love  of  us  and  for  our  sins;  forgive, 
O  Lord,  forgive  the  Florentine  people  that  would 
fain  become  Thy  people." 

The  effect  of  the  sermon  upon  Savonarola  him- 
self was  such  that  he  had  to  be  almost  carried  from 
the  Duomo,  so  exhausted  was  he.  It  was  days 
before  he  was  himself  again.  The  effect  upon  the 
people  was  beyond  description.  The  Duomo  had 
been  for  them  a  place  of  peace!  They  would  re- 
pent. They  would  be  united.  They  would  live  holy 
lives.  With  calm  and  serious  faces  they  went  out 
into  the  street  as  from  the  very  presence  of  God. 
During  the  most  trying  days  of  uncertainty  which 
followed  not  an  excess  of  any  kind  was  committed, 
and  the  revolution,  which  many  had  expected  to  see 
accomplished  in  the  public  square  with  much  flow- 
ing of  red  blood,  was  accomplished  in  peace  in  the 
.  Palazzo  Vecchio.  This  miracle,  for  such  it  was, 
has  been  described  as  unprecedented  in  Florentine 
history,  and  is  unanimously  attributed  by  the  his- 
torians of  the  time  to  Savonarola's  beneficial  ascend- 
ency over  the  minds  of  the  people. 

The  Council  of  Seventy  called  a  special  meet- 


CHARGES  VIII  otf  FRANCA.  141 

ing  to  decide  upon  a  course  of  action.  There  was 
much  agitation.  Every  man  realized  that  the  safety 
of  Florence  hung  in  the  balance.  The  former 
method  of  procedure,  no  one  speaking  until 
he  was  invited  by  the  Signory,  was  disregarded. 
Orsini  spoke  first.  He  said  something  about 
things  going  badly,  and  that  it  was  a  time 
for  strong  remedies;  then  became  confused  and 
sat  down.  An  ambitious  youth,  Tani  de  Nerli 
by  name,  in  a  few  passionate  words,  indorsed 
the  sentiments  just  uttered,  then  began  to  hesi- 
tate, and  was  finally  apologized  for  by  his  father. 
Things  were  not  going  well.  The  trouble  was,  the 
council  had  been  so  long  under  the  domination  of 
the  Signory  that  though  the  sentiment  was  strong 
that  something  ought  to  be  done,  no  one  seemed 
to  have  power  to  voice  the  common  thought  in  such 
a  way  as  to  command  a  hearing  and  win  respect 
for  the  spirit  of  revolt  which  was  in  the  air.  At 
last  Piero  Capponi  stood  up.  Something  about  him 
commanded  attention.  He  was  a  man  of  fine  pro- 
portions; his  hair  was  white;  there  were  flashes  of 
fire  in  his  eyes,  and  he  had  a  courageous  look  that 
compelled  all  others  to  keep  silence.  Like  our  own 
General  Grant,  this  Capponi  was  a  man  of  few 
words,  but  of  resolute  deeds.  In  a  short  address 
which  might  almost  be  described  as  a  Declaration 
of  Independence  for  Florence,  Capponi  won  every 
man  there  to  the  conviction  that  the  time  had  come 
for  prompt  and  decisive  action.  These  were  his 
words :  "Piero  de'  Medici  is  no  longer  fit  to  rule  the 
State;  the  Republic  must  provide  for  itself;  the 
moment  has  come  to  shake  off  this  baby  govern- 


142  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

ment."  These  patriotic  words  have  been  ringing 
through  Florentine  history  ever  since.  "Let  am- 
bassadors," said  Capponi,  "be  sent  to  King  Charles, 
and  should  they  meet  Piero  by  the  way,  let  them 
pass  him  without  salutation  and  let  them  explain 
that  he  has  caused  all  the  evil,  and  that  the  city 
is  well  disposed  to  the  French.  Let  honorable  men 
be  chosen  to  give  a  fitting  welcome  to  the  king; 
but  at  the  same  time  let  all  the  captains  and  sol- 
diery be  summoned  from  the  country  and  hidden 
away  in  the  cloisters  and  other  secret  places;  be- 
sides all  the  soldiery,  let  all  men  be  prepared  to 
fight  in  case  of  need,  so  that  when  we  shall  have 
done  our  best  to  act  honestly  toward  this  most 
Christian  monarch,  and  to  satisfy  with  money  the 
avarice  of  the  French,  we  may  be  ready  to  face  him 
and  show  our  teeth,  if  he  shall  try  us  beyond  our 
patience,  either  by  word  or  by  deed.  And,  above 
all,"  urged  Capponi,  "it  must  not  be  forgotten  to 
send  Father  Girolamo  Savonarola  as  one  of  the 
ambassadors,  for  he  has  gained  the  entire  love  of 
the  people." 

The  ambassadors  were  chosen,  five  of  them, — 
Capponi,  Nerli,  and  Savonarola  were  in  the  num- 
ber. Four  started  immediately  on  their  mission. 
Savonarola  waited  to  once  more  address  the  peo- 
ple. His  farewell  words  in  the  Duomo  were  these : 
"The  Lord  hath  granted  thy  prayer  and  brought 
great  revolution  by  peaceful  means.  God  alone 
came  to  rescue  the  city  when  it  was  forsaken  of 
all.  Wait  and  thou  shalt  see  the  disasters  which 
will  happen  elsewhere.  Therefore,  be  steadfast  in 
good  works,  O  people  of  Florence;  be  steadfast  in 


CHARLES  VIII  OF  FRANCE.  143 

peace.  If  thou  wouldst  have  the  Lord  steadfast  in 
mercy,  be  thou  merciful  to  thy  brethren,  thy  friends, 
and  thy  enemies ;  otherwise  thou  shalt  surely  be 
smitten  by  the  scourges  prepared  for  the  rest  of 
Italy.  'I  love  mercy,'  crieth  the  Lord  unto  you. 
Woe  to  him  that  obeyeth  not  His  commands."  The 
sermon  done,  Savonarola  started  for  Pisa.  There 
he  met  the  king  and  his  fellow  ambassadors. 

Piero  de'  Medici,  then  in  the  king's  camp,  soon 
found  that  these  ambassadors  represented  a  gov- 
ernment which  had  left  him  out.  Pleading  earnestly 
for  the  king's  support,  and  promising  big  sums  of 
money,  he  started  for  Florence.  The  welcome  he 
received  when  he  returned  was  not  to  his  liking. 
The  Florence  he  had  come  to  was  not  the  Florence 
he  had  left.  A  revolution  had  taken  place,  and  a  new 
order  had  been  established.  On  the  day  after  his 
arrival,  discouraged  by  the  cold  bearing  of  the 
Signory,  by  the  averted  countenances  of  former 
friends,  and  by  revolutionists  crowding  toward  the 
Riccardi  palace  under  the  leadership  of  Valori,  he 
hastened  from  his  palace  and  fled  from  the  city 
through  the  San  Gallo  Gate.  This  was  the  gate 
through  which  Savonarola  had  entered  twelve  years 
before.  Even  the  dregs  of  Florence  now  looked 
upon  Piero  with  contempt  as  he  ran  through  the 
San  Gallo  Gate  to  save  his  life.  "I  would  rather 
have  been  hacked  to  pieces,"  said  Bentivoglio  to 
him  when  he  reached  Bologna,  "than  to  abandon 
my  State  in  this  fashion."  These  were  the  words 
of  a  braggart.  It  was  not  long  before  Bentivoglio 
played  the  coward  as  beautifully  as  Piero  had  done. 
Once  and  again  Piero  de'  Medici  tried  to  get  back 


144  GiROivAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

into  Florence,  but  all  in  vain.  The  power  of  the 
Medici  was  broken.  Piero's  cousins,  on  returning 
to  Florence,  stripped  the  shields  with  the  balls  on 
them  from  their  houses,  and  changed  their  name 
from  Medici  to  Popolani. 

Savonarola  was  not  in  Florence  now,  and  the 
crowd  collected  by  Valori  was  intoxicated  with  a 
desire  for  pillage.  They  went  through  the  house 
of  Giovanni  de'  Medici,  and  broke  into  the  garden 
near  San  Marco  where  Lorenzo  had  gathered  rich 
treasures  of  art.  The  Signory,  together  with  men 
who  looked  to  Savonarola  for  guidance,  did  every- 
thing in  their  power  to  quell  disturbances  and  keep 
the  peace.  But  unfavorable  news  had  come  con- 
cerning the  attitude  of  the  king.  Charles  would 
give  the  ambassadors  no  definite  answer.  There 
was  much  anxiety  as  to  what  news  the  prior  would 
bring  when  he  came. 

After  the  other  ambassadors  had  made  their 
plea  and  had  left  Pisa,  Savonarola  made  his  way  to 
the  French  camp  and  into  the  king's  presence. 
Losing  no  time  in  preliminaries,  and  coming  at 
once  to  the  purpose  of  his  mission,  Savonarola  ad- 
dressed the  French  monarch  thus :  "O,  most  Chris- 
tian king,  thou  art  an  instrument  in  the  hands  of 
the  Lord  who  sendeth  thee  to  relieve  the  woe  in 
Italy,  as  for  many  years  I  have  foretold;  and  He 
sendeth  thee  to  reform  the  Church  which  now  lieth 
prostrate  in  the  dust.  If  thou  be  not  just  and 
merciful;  if  thou  shouldst  fail  to  respect  the  city 
of  Florence,  its  women,  its  citizens  and  its  liberties ; 
if  thou  shouldst  forget  the  task  the  Lord  hath 
sent  thee  to  perform,  then  will  He  choose  another 


CHARGES  VIII  OF  FRANCE.  145 

to  fulfill  it;  His  hand  shall  smite  thee  and  chastise 
thee  with  terrible  scourges.  These  things  say  I  unto 
thee  in  the  name  of  the  Lord." 

His  message  delivered,  Savonarola  returned  to 
Florence.  Two  men  were  now  looked  upon  as  the 
men  of  the  hour :  Savonarola,  who  preached  unity, 
charity,  and  peace,  and  Capponi,  who  collected  men 
and  armies  for  the  defense  of  the  city.  Every  house 
was  made  an  arsenal.  Hired  troops  to  the  number 
of  six  thousand  were  secretly  quartered  in  avail- 
able places  throughout  the  city.  Material  for  bar- 
ricading the  streets  was  packed  away  in  convenient 
places.  Charles  was  to  be  received  as  though  com- 
ing on  a  friendly  visit  but,  "if  he  showed  his  teeth," 
the  city  was  to  be  in  arms. 

On  the  1 7th  of  November  Charles  arrived,  clad 
in  black  velvet  and  gold  brocade,  and  riding  on  a 
proud  charger;  he  entered  the  city  with  lance  lev- 
eled. The  army  made  a  great  display,  and  the 
Florentines  opened  their  eyes  in  wonder  at  what 
they  saw.  But  Capponi !  Well,  he  knew  the  city 
was  prepared  for  any  emergency.  And  Valori,  the 
Cato  of  Florence!  He,  too,  was  confident.  With 
the  utmost  courtesy  Charles  was  shown  to  the  Ric- 
cardi  palace  which  had  been  fitted  up  for  his  use. 
That  night  the  city  was  a  blaze  of  illuminations,  and 
there  were  feastings  and  amusements.  The  next 
day  also  was  given  up  to  gayety.  The  citizens  were 
then  ready  for  an  answer  to  their  question,  namely — 
the  terms  on  which  Charles  had  entered  their  city 
and  the  nature  of  the  treaty  he  desired  to  make  with 
them?  They  soon  learned  that  the  leveled  lance 
meant  something.  It  was  no  easy  matter,  and  they 
10 


146  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

were  not  long  in  finding  it  out,  to  make  terms  with 
the  haughty  king.  By  the  merest  accident  Charles 
was  given  to  know  more  about  Florence  than  he 
had  seen  while  riding  through  the  streets  on  his 
gayly  caparisoned  charger.  Some  French  soldiers 
were  going  about  the  streets  one  day  dragging  Ital- 
ian prisoners  of  war,  and  forcing  them  to  beg 
money  to  secure  their  ransom.  A  daring  citizen 
cut  some  of  the  ropes  and  the  prisoners  escaped. 
The  soldiers  were  furious,  and  there  was  riot  in  the 
street.  Then  at  a  single  stroke  of  the  alarm  bell, 
barricades  began  to  go  up ;  armed  soldiers  filled  the 
streets ;  sticks,  stones,  and  pieces  of  iron  rained  from 
house  windows  on  the  heads  of  the  Swiss  infantry. 
When  order  was  finally  restored,  the  soldiers  slipped 
quietly  into  their  hiding-places  and  the  barricades 
disappeared.  Charles  and  his  army  had  never  seen 
anything  like  this  before  and  they  were  impressed 
by  it. 

The  Signory  now  saw  an  opportunity  to  hasten 
the  treaty  negotiations.  The  main  points  had  al- 
ready been  settled,  except  as  to  the  amount  of 
money  to  be  paid.  Piero's  offer  had  led  Charles  to 
expect  much  more  than  Florence  was  able  to  pay. 
Messengers  were  continually  going  back  and  forth 
between  the  Signory  and  the  king  until  there  was 
much  weariness  and  unrest  on  both  sides.  The 
king  finally  brought  matters  to  a  conclusion,  though 
not  to  the  conclusion  he  expected,  by  ordering  his 
secretary  to  read  his  ultimatum,  which  was  refused 
on  the  spot.  The  king,  furious  with  rage,  blurted 
out  in  threatening  tone,  "Then  we  will  sound  our 
trumpets."  Quick  as  a  flash  Capponi  sprang  to  the 


CHARGES  VIII  OF  FRANCE.  147 

most  popular  achievement  of  his  life.  Snatching 
the  paper  from  the  secretary's  hand,  he  tore  it  in 
pieces,  and  trampling  it  in  rage  beneath  his  feet, 
answered  the  threat  to  sound  trumpets,  with  the  im- 
mortal words,  "And  we  will  ring  our  bells!"  Charles 
had  heard  the  alarm  bell  ring  in  Florence  once.  He 
did  not  care  to  hear  it  again.  The  terms  of  the 
treaty  were  quickly  agreed  upon  and  the  instrument 
signed.  With  happy  play  on  words  Macchiavelli 
describes  this  event  by  saying  that  even  the  clash  of 
arms  and  stamping  of  steeds  could  not  drown  "La 
voce  d'  un  Cappon  fra  cento  Galli"  ("The  crow  of 
a  Capon  among  a  hundred  cocks"). 

The  treaty  provided  that  there  should  be  friendly 
relations  between  the  Republic  and  the  king;  that 
Charles  should  have  the  title  "Protector  of  the  liber- 
ties of  Florence;"  that  120,000  florins  should  be 
paid;  that  the  fortresses  were  to  be  held  not  more 
than  two  years,  and  that  the  Pisans  should  be  par- 
doned for  their  recent  revolutionary  actions  as  soon 
as  they  resumed  allegiance  to  Florence;  and  that 
the  Medici  -were  to  be  banished  and  their  estates 
were  to  remain  confiscated  until  all  of  Piero's  debts 
were  paid.  Both  parties  met  in  the  Duomo  and 
solemnly  pledged  that  all  parts  of  the  treaty  should 
be  carefully  observed.  That  night  the  city  was  il- 
luminated again. 

On  the  morrow  Florence  began  to  get  ready 
to  say  farewell  to  her  royal  guest,  but  the  king  did 
not  take  his  leave  that  day,  or  the  next  day;  nor 
did  he  go  on  the  day  after  that.  Florence  became 
restless  again.  Business  was  at  a  standstill,  there 
were  bad  goings  on  at  night,  the  hosts  were  be- 


148  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

coming  weary  of  their  guests.  In  a  diplomatic  way 
the  king  was  given  to  understand  that  his  stay  was 
becoming  a  burden  and  that  the  time  had  come  for 
his  departure.  But  Charles  was  enjoying  his  quar- 
ters in  the  Riccardi  palace,  and  gave  no  intima- 
tion that  he  had  any  thought  of  taking  his  leave. 
Matters  in  the  city  were  becoming  serious. 

The  citizens  again  appealed  to  Savonarola,  who 
all  this  time  had  been  urging  the  people  to  throw 
aside  all  personal  ambitions  and  animosities,  to 
have  regard  only  to  the  general  good,  and,  with 
the  firm  resolve,  to  promote  the  unity  and  con- 
cord of  their  city;  then  indeed  would  they  be  ac- 
ceptable in  the  Lord's  sight.  Capponi's  brilliant 
and  heroic  passage  at  arms  in  the  palace,  by  which 
the  king  was  brought  to  terms,  did  not  count  more 
for  the  good  of  Florence  than  the  commanding 
voice  of  Savonarola  which  kept  the  city  in  peace. 
The  appeal  now  made  by  the  citizens  was  that 
Savonarola  should  do  more  than  preach  from  the 
pulpit.  They  Avanted  him  to  go  in  person  to 
Charles  and  influence  him  to  leave  the  city,  and  do 
it  immediately.  Every  other  means  had  been  tried. 
Savonarola  knew  what  a  difficult  task  it  was,  but 
he  did  not  hesitate.  He  went  at  once  to  the  palace, 
and,  passing  straight  by  officers,  'lords  and  barons, 
faced  the  king  with  his  message:  "Most  Chris- 
tian Prince!  Thy  stay  here  is  causing  great  in- 
jury both  to  our  city  and  thine  own  enterprise. 
Thou  losest  time,  forgetful  of  the  duty  imposed 
upon  thee  by  Providence,  and  to  the  serious  hurt 
of  thy  spiritual  welfare  and  worldly  fame. 
Hearken  now  to  the  voice  of  God's  servant!  Pur- 


CHARLES  VIII  OF  FRANCE.  149 

sue  thy  journey  without  delay.  Seek  not  to  bring 
ruin  on  this  city  and  thereby  rouse  the  anger  of 
the  Lord  against  thee."  There  was  something 
about  this  man  of  God;  something  in  his  serious 
face,  penetrating  eye,  commanding  voice,  and  the 
bloodless  hand  holding  aloft  the  crucifix,  that  made 
him  irresistible.  On  the  morrow  Charles  left  Flor- 
ence. 

There  was  but  one  judgment  now  concerning 
Savonarola.  He  was  a  true  prophet  of  all  the  things 
which  had  occurred.  He  it  was  who  deserved  the 
credit  of  influencing  the  king's  conduct  on  entering 
Florence  and  during  his  stay  in  the  city.  And  he  it 
was  also  who  had  induced  Charles  to  depart  when 
no  one  else  could  move  him. 

The  party  of  the  people  was  now  in  full  control, 
arid  Savonarola  ruled  the  will  of  the  people.  Every- 
thing seemed  to  conspire  to  augment  the  preacher's 
popularity  and  increase  his  power.  Pico  della 
Mirandola,  dying  on  the  very  day  Charles  entered 
Florence,  requested  that  he  be  clothed  in  the  habit 
of  St.  Dominic  and  interred  in  the  Church  of  San 
Marco.  Poliziano,  too,  his  honors  all  gone  and 
hated  of  the  people,  died  with  a  prayer  of  peni- 
tence on  his  lips.  He,  too,  had  earnestly  requested 
that  he  might  be  buried  in  the  cloak  of  a  Domin- 
ican, and  that  his  body  might  lie  beside  that  of  Pico 
in  the  Church  of  San  Marco.  It  could  not  fail  to 
attract  increased  attention  to  Savonarola  that  these 
two  celebrated  Florentines,  like  Lorenzo  the  Mag- 
nificent, had  turned  to  San  Marco  at  the  last  hour. 
The  Prior  of  San  Marco  was  rapidly  becoming  the 
people's  hero. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE  PREACHER  AND  THE  NEW  CON- 
STITUTION. 

JUST  four  days  after  the  departure  of  Charles 
the  great  bell  of  the  Palazzo  Vecchio  rang  out  to 
call  a  Parlamento.  This  was  not  unlike  a  modern 
town  meeting,  except  that  it  was  much  larger.  All 
the  men  of  the  city  came  together  to  express  their 
judgment  on  any  important  matter.  This  had  the 
look  of  democracy,  but  there  was  little  of  democ- 
racy about  it.  The  Parlamento  was  the  instru- 
ment of  tyrants.  But  it  was  the  old  order,  and 
Florence  knew  nothing  better  as  yet.  The  Signory 
now  appeared  before  this  gathering  of  the  peo- 
ple with  a  request  that  they  be  given  the  privilege 
of  appointing  twenty  men  with  power  to  elect  a 
new  Signory  and  other  necessary  magistrates.  The 
request  was  granted,  and  the  government  of  "The 
Twenty"  took  the  place  of  the  old  Medicean  gov- 
ernment of  "The  Seventy."  All 'Other  forms  and 
offices  remained  the  same.  There  were  the  three 
higher  offices— the  Signory,  eight  in  number;  the 
Gonfalonieres  of  the  Companies,  sixteen  in  number ; 
and  the  Buoni  Uomini,  twelve  in  number.  There 
were  also  "The  Ten  of  War,"  "The  Eight  of  Guard 
and  Custody,"  and  the  two  councils,  which  under 
Lorenzo  had  become  one. 
150 


PREACHER  AND  NEW  CONSTITUTION.       151 

The  new  government  promised  much,  but  it  was 
soon  found  to  have  limitations.  Power  was  en- 
tirely in  the  hands  of  the  Signory.  These  eight 
men  "passed  the  laws,  dispatched  ambassadors,  de- 
clared war,  and  frequently  acted  as  a  tribunal  of 
justice,  pronouncing  sentence  of  death  and  confis- 
cation." The  Twenty,  with  no  such  personality 
back  of  them  as  the  Seventy  had  had  in  Lorenzo's 
day,  soon  discovered  that  their  authority  was  only 
nominal.  It  was  necessary  to  have  a  government 
which  could  do  something.  There  were  serious 
matters  to  be  attended  to.  There  was  rebellion 
among  the  Pisans  to  be  put  down ;  other  cities  were 
in  revolt;  King  Charles  was  urgently  demanding 
money.  Florence  needed  a  stronger  and  more  ef- 
fective government,  and  that  right  away.  Discus- 
sions among  the  citizens  began  and  increased.  Some 
urged  a  Great  Council  such  as  Venice  had.  Others 
maintained  that  Florence  ought  to  devise  a  govern- 
ment of  her  own  without  imitating  Venice.  It 
seemed  at  times  that  there  were  only  two  ways  open 
— one  in  the  direction  of  tyranny,  the  other  in  the 
direction  of  anarchy.  Two  eminent  Doctors  of 
Law,  Vespucci  and  Soderini,  finally  came  forward 
with  a  plan.  The  plan  involved  the  substitution  of 
a  general  council  of  the  people  for  all  former  coun- 
cils, and  the  creation  of  a  lesser  council  composed 
of  men  of  age  and  experience.  The  government 
of  the  Twenty  was  to  be  abolished.  The  Signory, 
the  Ten,  and  the  Gonfalonieres  of  the  Companies 
were  to  be  maintained.  There  was  much  talk  and 
wrangling,  and  some  serious  discussion  of  the  pro- 
posed changes.  The  longer  the  matter  was  dis- 


152  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

cussed,  the  more  undecided  the  people  seemed  to 
be  as  to  the  wisdom  of  the  plan.  Charges  of  ulterior 
motive  began  to  be  made.  There  was  crimination 
and  recrimination.  Vespucci  and  Soderini  could 
not  make  the  majority  of  the  people  believe  that 
their  constitution  was  the  one  Florence  needed. 
Valori,  great  popular  leader  though  he  was,  was 
not  equal  to  the  emergency  which  the  city  now 
faced.  Even  Capponi,  brave  and  courageous  old 
soldier,  was  not  strong  enough  to  lead  Florence  in 
these  days  of  political  crises.  Agam  the  people 
turned  to  San  Marco. 

Savonarola  had  not  been  idle.  He  had  been  de- 
voting himself  unselfishly  to  the  interests  of  the 
city.  But  he  had  not  allowed  himself  to  be  drawn 
into  political  discussions.  His  one  great  care  had 
been  the  poor  and  the  unemployed.  "Forsake 
pomp  and  vanities,"  he  cried  out  in  his  pulpit. 
"Sell  all  superfluous  things,  and  bestow  the  money 
on  the  poor.  Citizens !  let  us  collect  alms  in  every 
church  for  the  poor,  in  the  city  and  outside  the 
walls.  Devote  to  the  poor  for  one  year  at  least,  the 
funds  of  the  Pisan  University  (then  suspended)  ;  if 
this  should  not  suffice,  let  us  take  the  church  plate 
and  decorations,  and  I  will  be  the  first  to  set  you 
the  example.  But,  above  all  things',  pass  a  law  that 
shops  may  be  opened  and  work  provided  for  trie 
populace  now  idling  in  the  streets."  In  a  most  re- 
markable way  the  people  responded  to  these  calls 
for  help,  and  large  sums  of  money  were  collected. 
Day  after  day  he  urged  the  people  to  charity :  "This 
is  the  time  for  words  to  give  place  to  deeds,  vain 
ceremonies  to  real  feelings.  The  Lord  said:  'I  was 


PREACHER  AND  NEW  CONSTITUTION.       153 

a  hungered  and  ye  gave  me  no  meat;  I  was  naked 
and  ye  clothed  me  not.'  He  did  not  say:  Ye  built 
me  not  fine  churches,  nor  fine  convents.  He  did  but 
exhort  you  to  works  of  charity ;  therefore  by  charity 
shall  all  things  be  renewed." 

While  men  were  looking  to  Savonarola  with  the 
hope  that  he  would  say  something  which  would 
throw  light  on  the  grave  constitutional  crisis  which 
faced  Florence,  he  was  fairly  abandoning  himself 
in  pleading  for  the  poor  and  devising  plans  to 
provide  work  for  the  unemployed.  What  more 
could  he  do?  But  he  must  do  more.  He  had 
already  said  and  done  so  much  for  the  welfare  of 
Florence  that  the  people  demanded  some  suggestive 
word  from  him  now. 

Before  touching  the  constitution,  the  two  things 
most  immediately  necessary  were:  first,  to  provide 
against  the  return  of  Piero ;  and,  second,  to  prevent 
the  personal  enemies  of  Piero  from  venting  their 
wrath  upon  his  adherents  still  in  the  city.  The 
former  was  the  easier  to  do.  The  latter  was  the 
task  of  Savonarola.  He  gave  himself  to  it  with 
the  wisdom  of  a  patriot  and  the  spirit  of  a  saint. 
Day  after  day  in  the  Duomo  he  pointed  out  that 
the  grave  political  crisis  which  was  upon  them  de- 
manded unselfish  action  on  the  part  of  those  who 
cared  for  the  welfare  of  Florence.  Again  and  again 
he  cried  out  from  the  pulpit :  "Florence,  forgive,  and 
make  peace,  and  cry  not  again:  'Flesh,  and  more 
flesh,  blood  and  more  blood.'  Forgive !  Forgive !" 

In  a  paragraph  which  stirs  one's  blood,  Villari 
has  shown  what  it  meant  for  Savonarola  to  accept 
responsibility  at  this  crisis.  Here  are  his  words: 


154  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

"Undoubtedly  the  grandest  lesson  taught  us  by  his- 
tory is  that  of  seeing  how  in  terrible  moments 
such  as  these,  when  the  world  seems  to  be  at  the 
mercy  of  brute  force,  and  the  earth  threatened 
with  chaos;  when  rank  and  power,  science  and 
wealth  are  alike  impotent;  when  courage  itself  is 
vanquished  by  the  unbridled  audacity  of  the  mob — 
help  is  only  to  be  obtained  from  virtue,  generous 
resolve,  and  unselfish  love  of  goodness.  Thus  Fra 
Girolamo  Savonarola  was  fated  to  be  the  savior 
of  Florence.  The  hour  had  struck  for  his  appear- 
ance in  the  arena  of  politics ;  and  notwithstanding 
the  firm  determination  with  which  he  had  hitherto 
held  aloof  from  it,  he  was  now  compelled  to  obey 
the  summons  by  the  pressure  of  events." 

Nothing  shows  more  clearly  the  spirit  and  pur- 
pose of  Savonarola  in  accepting  a  share  of  the  re- 
sponsibility for  deciding  upon  a  governmental  pol- 
icy, than  an  extract  from  one  of  his  sermons.  "The 
Lord  has  driven  my  bark  into  the  open  sea,  the 
wind  drives  me  forward,  and  the  Lord  forbids  my 
return.  I  communed  last  night  with  the  Lord  and 
said :  'Pity  me,  O  Lord ;  lead  me  back  to  my  haven.' 
'It  is  impossible;  see  you  not  that  the  wind  is  con- 
trary?' 'I  will  preach  if  so  I  must;  but  why  need 
I  meddle  with  the  government  of  Florence?'  'If 
thou  wouldst  make  Florence  a  holy  city,  thou  must 
establish  her  on  firm  foundations,  and  give  her  a 
government  which  favors  virtue.'  'But  Lord,  I 
am  not  sufficient  for  these  things.'  'Knowest  thou 
not  that  God  chooses  the  weak  of  this  world  to 
confound  the  mighty?  Thou  art  the  instrument,  I 
am  the  doer.'  Then  was  I  convinced  and  cried, 


PREACHER  AND  NEW  CONSTITUTION.       155 

'Lord,  I  will  do  Thy  will ;  but  tell  me  what  shall  be 
my  reward?'  'Eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard.' 
'But  in  this  life,  Lord?'  'My  son,  the  servant  is 
not  above  his  master.  The  Jews  made  Me  die  on 
the  cross;  a  like  lot  awaits  thee.'  'Yea  Lord,  let 
me  die  as  Thou  didst  die  for  me.'  Then  He  said, 
'Wait  yet  a  while ;  let  that  be  done  which  must  be 
done,  then  arm  thyself  with  courage." 

In  all  his  relations  to  the  government  of  Flor- 
ence Savonarola  never  got  away  from  the  idea 
that  Florence  was  to  be  made  a  holy  city,  a  city 
favorable  to  virtue  and  established  on  the  firm 
foundation  of  righteousness.  In  no  other  way 
could  he  justify  his  participation  in  the  affairs  of 
State.  Almost  his  first  words  were  against  tyrants. 
To  him  the  word  tyrant  signified  a  man  of  evil 
life,  a  man  of  greater  wickedness  than  other  men, 
an  usurper  of  others'  rights.  The  first  law  he 
pleaded  for  was  a  law  that  henceforth  no  one 
man  should  be  the  head  of  the  city.  To  do  other- 
wise meant  building  on  the  sand.  Those  who 
would  fain  rise  above  other  men,  who  could  not 
tolerate  civil  equality,  these  were  to  him  desperately 
wicked,  destroyers  of  souls  and  of  States.  "Your 
reform,"  said  he,  "must  begin  with  spiritual  things, 
for  these  are  higher  than  material  things,  of  which 
they  are  the  rule  and  the  life;  and  likewise  all 
temporal  good  must  be  subordinate  to  the  moral 
and  religious  good,  from  which  it  depends.  If, 
perchance,  ye  have  heard  it  said  that  'States  can 
not  be  governed  by  Paternosters/  (a  saying  at- 
tributed to  Cosimo  de'  Medici),  remember  that 
is  the  maxim  of  tyrants ;  of  men  hostile  to  God  and 


156  GiROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

the  common  welfare,  a  rule  for  the  oppression,  not 
for  the  relief  and  liberation  of  a  city.  But  if,  on 
the  contrary,  you  desire  a  good  government,  you 
must  submit  it  to  God.  Certainly  I  would  take  no 
concern  for  a  State  that  should  not  be  subject  to 
Him." 

If  Savonarola  was  to  speak  any  direct  word  to 
influence  the  form  of  a  new  constitution,  he  must 
do  it  quickly.  The  plan  which  he  first  outlined  was 
as  follows:  "When  ye  shall  have  purified  your 
hearts,  rectified  your  aims,  condemned  gambling, 
sensuality,  and  blasphemy,  then  set  to  work  to 
frame  your  government;  first  making  a  rough 
draft  of  it,  afterwards  proceeding  to  details  and 
amendments.  And  let  your  first  draft,  or  rather 
model  and  basis  of  government,  be  conceived  in 
such  wise:  that  no  man  may  receive  any  benefit 
save  by  the  will  of  the  whole  people,  who  must 
have  the  sole  right  of  creating  magistrates  and 
enacting  laws."  Here  was  a  complete  change  from 
the  old  order,  a  death  blow  to  tyranny.  But  he 
goes  on,  "The  form  of  government  best  adapted 
to  this  city,  would  be  that  of  a  Grand  Council  on 
the  Venetian  plan."  He  then  recommended  the 
assembling  of  all  the  people  in  their  proper  com- 
panies, and  suggested  that  each  company  propose  a 
form  of  government.  From  these  the  Gonfaloniere 
was  to  select  four ;  and  from  these  four  the  Signory 
was  to  choose  the  one  best  adapted  to  Flor- 
ence. "I  believe,"  said  he,  "that  the  Venetian  model 
will  be  the  one  chosen,  and  you  need  hold  it  no 
shame  to  imitate  the  Venetians,  because  they,  too, 
received  it  from  the  Lord,  whence  all  good  things 


PREACHER  AND  NEW  CONSTITUTION.       157 

come.  You  have  seen  how,  since  that  government 
has  been  established  in  Venice,  no  factions  nor  dis- 
sensions of  any  sort  have  arisen,  therefore  we  must 
needs  believe  that  it  exists  by  God's  will." 

Savonarola  now  had  frequent  visitors  in  San 
Marco  for  advice  on  matters  pertaining  to  the  con- 
stitution. He  was  often  seen  on  his  way  to  the 
Palazzo  Vecchio,  where  two  or  three  times  he 
preached  on  the  moral  aspects  of  the  constitutional 
question  then  before  Florence.  On  an  appointed 
day  he  preached  in  the  Duomo  to  men  only.  All  the 
magistrates  were  there,  and  the  men  of  the  city 
were  there.  It  was  an  eventful  gathering.  Four 
conclusions  were  clearly  set  forth  and  maintained 
by  the  preacher.  First,  the  fear  of  God  and  the 
restoration  of  good  manners  and  customs.  Second, 
the  love  of  popular  government  and  of  the  public 
good,  setting  aside  all  private  interests.  Third,  a 
general  amnesty,  by  which  they  should  absolve  the 
friends  of  the  past  government  from  all  faults,  re- 
mitting all  fines,  and  showing  indulgence  toward 
those  who  were  indebted  to  the  State.  Fourth,  to 
constitute  a  form  of  universal  government,  which 
should  comprehend  all  its  citizens,  to  whom,  ac- 
cording to  the  ancient  ordinance  of  the  city,  the 
government  belonged.  In  this  sermon  he  again 
expressed  his  belief  that  the  Grand  Council  of 
Venice,  with  some  modifications,  perhaps,  was  the 
one  best  suited  to  Florence.  There  was  a  decision 
and  ring  about  his  words  which  dispelled  all  doubt. 
The  people  went  out  from  the  Duomo  shouting,  "// 
Consiglio  Grande!  II  Consiglio  Grande!"  The 
matter  of  the  constitution  was  settled.  There  was 


SAVONAROLA. 

nothing  left  for  the  Signory  but  to  confirm  the  de- 
cision of  the  people,  a  decision  made  under  the 
influence  of  the  mighty  preacher. 

Without  attempting  to  mark,  step  by  step,  the 
movements  which  finally  led  to  good  order  and 
good  government  in  Florence,  it  is  enough  to  say 
that  within  one  year  from  the  day  Piero  fled  from 
the  San  Gallo  Gate,  a  reform  had  been  accom- 
plished in  Florence  the  like  of  which  has  seldom 
been  seen.  The  new  constitution  had  been  framed, 
the  people  had  been  led  in  a  remarkably  short  space 
of  time  to  feel  something  of  responsibility  for  self- 
government,  a  spirit  of  real  patriotism  had  been 
developed  and  a  desire  for  a  well  ordered  city,  the 
tyrant  had  been  driven  out  and  a  government  of 
the  people  established.  And  think  of  it!  Not  a 
sword  drawn;  not  one  drop  of  blood  spilled  on 
any  street;  no  violent  dissensions;  and  all  this  in 
Florence,  a  city  notorious  for  its  rioting  and  bitter 
dissensions  among  leading  families.  And  one  man 
did  it  all!  Did  it  from  the  pulpit  of  the  Duomo! 
No  wonder  his  work  has  been  described  by  Villari 
as  "an  example  without  precedent  in  the  history 
of  the  might  of  human  utterances  and  the  human 
will." 


CHAPTER    XIII. 
JESUS   KING  OF  FLORENCE. 

IT  was  now  that  the  citizens  of  Florence  brought 
out  the  famous  bronze  statue  of  Judith  and  Holo- 
phernes,  formerly  the  property  of  the  Medici,  and 
with  much  enthusiasm  set  it  up  at  the  gateway  of 
the  Palazzo  Vecchio.  They  placed  it  there  in  rec- 
ognition of  the  fact  that  a  new  era  had  begun  for 
Florence.  And  they  put  upon  it  an  inscription  tes- 
tifying to  all  who  should  pass,  from  then  until  now, 
that  it  was  a  memorial  of  the  securing  of  stable 
and  safe  government  for  Florence  under  the  con- 
stitution. 

During  these  months  in  which  the  Republic 
was  being  established,  and  even  before  this  time, 
Savonarola  had  now  and  then  dreamed  of  an  order 
of  things  in  Florence,  towards  the  realization  of 
which  he  more  and  more  gave  the  enthusiasm  of 
his  life.  His  vision  was  not  that  of  Plato's  Ideal 
Republic,  but  a  Christian  State,  in  which  the  prin- 
ciples of  Christianity  should  actually  influence  the 
government  at  all  points,  a  State  in  which  the 
manners  of  the  people  should  be  determined  by  the 
Divine  influence  of  Jesus  Christ  working  in  the 
hearts  of  men,  a  State  in  which  Jesus  should  act- 
ually be  king.  In  his  vision  he  saw  Florence  as  a 
"holy  city."  Great  souls  who  have  dreamed  this 
same  dream  in  the  centuries  intervening  have  found 

'59 


160  GiROivAMo  SAVONAROLA. 

how  difficult,  nay,  impossible,  of  realization  is  the 
dream.  The  vision  is  with  us  yet;  but  forever 
above  us,  not  realized.  But  the  fact  that  men 
see  it,  is  making  the  world  better. 

Savonarola  loved  Florence,  and  he  wanted  for 
his  city  a  government  and  a  manner  of  life  which 
God  could  approve.  It  was  a  bold  dream.  The 
first  time  he  made  known  to  the  people  his  high 
ambition  was  in  one  of  the  Advent  sermons  of 
1494.  He  was  discoursing  from  the  Book  of  Hag- 
gai  on  various  forms  of  government,  monarchial 
and  others.  The  intense  political  excitement  of  the 
time  made  such  a  theme  one  which  would  hold 
the  closest  attention.  While  the  audience  hung 
breathlessly  on  his  words,  waiting  in  suspense  for 
what  might  come  next,  the  preacher,  knowing  that 
the  supreme  question  in  the  people's  mind  was  the 
form  of  government  which  should  be  adopted,  ex- 
claimed, "Well,  Florence,  God  is  willing  to  satisfy 
thee,  and  to  give  thee  a  government,  a  king  to 
govern  thee.  This  king  is  Christ.  The  Lord  will 
govern  thee  himself,  if  thou  consent,  O  Florence! 
Suffer  thyself  to  be  guided  by  Him.  Take  Christ 
for  thy  master,  and  remain  subject  to  His  law." 

He  then  went  on  to  show  what  an  influence 
for  good  Florence  might  have,  not  only  in  Italy 
but  among  other  nations,  if  she  would  only  accept 
such  Divine  sovereignty  as  he  had  described.  In 
the  very  climax  of  his  sermon,  when  the  interest  of 
the  audience  was  at  highest  tension,  he  threw  out 
this  startling  and  thrilling  challenge:  "Florence! 
Jesus  Christ,  who  is  King  of  the  universe,  hath 
milled  to  become  thy  King.  Wilt  thou  have  Him 


JESUS  KING  of  FLORENCE.  161 

for  thy  King?"  It  was  a  supreme  moment.  The 
audience,  swayed  by  the  bold  and  mighty  thought 
of  the  preacher,  hesitated,  then  responded  to  the 
challenge,  and  shouted  as  with  one  voice,  "Gesu 
Christ o  nostro  Re!"  (Jesus  Christ  our  King.) 
Florence  had  a  new  slogan  now.  When  the  ser- 
mon was  done  men  shouted  it  in  the  Piazza,  and  on 
the  streets,  Gesu  Christ  o  nostro  Re!  Everywhere 
they  shouted  it.  Jesus  had  been  chosen  King  of 
Florence. 

No  one  saw  more  clearly  than  Savonarola,  that 
it  would  be  no  easy  matter  to  transform  Florence 
into  the  city  he  had  seen  in  his  vision.  He  now 
gave  himself  most  earnestly  to  the  work  of  moral 
reform.  Florence  was  at  this  time  the  victim  of 
the  most  degrading  vices.  Crimes  not  to  be  named 
were  prevalent,  not  among  the  poorer  classes  only, 
but  among  the  rich.  "Your  life,"  said  the  preacher, 
pleading  earnestly  with  the  people  to  live  clean  and 
pure  lives,  "your  life  is  the  life  of  swine."  The 
testimony  of  contemporary  historians  is  evidence 
that  the  charge  was  hardly  extravagant.  In  all  his 
sermons  now  he  cried  out,  even  more  strongly 
than  before,  against  the  corruptions  in  high  place 
and  low  which  were  a  blight  upon  the  city.  He 
earnestly  entreated  the  people  to  break  away  from 
all  their  sins  and  evil  doings,  and  become  true  sub- 
jects of  the  new  Sovereign. 

Not  content  with  bringing  his  message  to  the 
people,  Savonarola  again  and  again  appealed  to  the 
magistrates  to  take  vigorously  in  hand  the  work 
of  reforming  the  city.  More  than  once  he  told 
them  that  their  constitution  could  not  do  the  work, 
ii 


1 62  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

nor  any  of  their  councils;  it  must  be  done  by 
definite  action  on  their  part  and  by  the  personal 
activity  of  the  men  charged  with  the  government 
of  the  city.  "Magistrates,"  he  said  on  one  occa- 
sion, "it  is  to  you  that  I  address  myself.  Put  down 
these  vices,  destroy  these  sins,  punish  this  horrid 
passion  which  is  against  nature;  and  not  merely 
by  a  private  fine,  but  in  public,  that  all  Italy  may 
know  it.  Expose  all  the  courtesans  in  a  public 
place,  and  send  them  off  to  the  sound  of  trumpets! 
But  you  say,  'O  Father!  there  are  so  many  of 
them  that  this  would  be  to  upset  the  whole  city.' 
Well,  then,  begin  with  one;  then  go  on  to  the 
rest!  And  if  you  can  not  give  them  chastity,  you 
can  at  least  teach  them  decency.  Punish  gamblers ; 
for,  be  well  assured  gambling  still  goes  on.  Give 
orders  Signers,  that  none  shall  play  in  the  streets 
at  great  games  or  small.  Have  the  tongues  of 
blasphemers  pierced!  St.  Louis,  King  of  France, 
had  the  lips  of  a  blasphemer  cauterized,  and  said: 
'I  should  be  happy  to  have  as  much  done  to  my- 
self if  I  could  at  such  a  price  have  my  kingdom 
clear  of  such  offenders.'  Put  down  dancing,  too, 
for  this  is  not  a  time  to  dance.  Prohibit  balls  in 
town  and  country."  These  words  sound  very  like 
the  words  of  Puritanism.  But  before  criticising 
Savonarola  too  severely  for  advocating  such  harsh 
and  drastic  methods  of  reform,  his  detractors  ought 
to  be  made  to  tell  just  what  the  shameless  moral 
condition  of  Florence  was  at  this  time.  Read  Fra 
Filippo  Lippi  as  a  hint  of  what  it  was !  There  are 
times  when  drastic  methods  are  the  only  methods 
worth  trying.  Hildebrand  was  drastic  in  his  meth- 


JESUS  KING  OF  FLORENCE.  163 

ods.  So  were  Luther  and  Knox.  So  was  Crom- 
well. 

The  transformations  in  the  social  life  of  Flor- 
ence, from  1495  to  1497,  read  like  the  story  of 
miracles.  The  whole  aspect  of  the  city  was 
changed.  Finery  and  jewelry  were  cast  aside ; 
women  dressed  plainly  on  the  streets ;  money  which 
had  before  been  spent  for  ornament  and  display 
was  now  given  to  the  poor;  theaters  and  taverns 
were  empty;  cards  and  dice  disappeared;  the 
churches  were  crowded;  alms-boxes  were  well- 
filled  ;  tradesmen  and  bankers  restored  their  ill- 
gotten  gains;  purity,  sobriety,  and  justice  prevailed 
in  the  city,  and  the  Prior  of  San  Marco  was  every- 
where hailed  as  the  greatest  public  benefactor. 

But  it  was  a  long  distance  from  the  old  Flor- 
ence with  the  old  constitution  to  the  new  Florence 
with  the  new  constitution.  Savonarola  found,  as 
men  find  in  our  day,  that  thorough-going  municipal 
reform  is  a  slow  process,  and  does  not  come  about 
by  simply  making  a  new  constitution.  Opposition 
to  reform  had  been  lurking  about  in  Florence  from 
the  very  beginning  of  Savonarola's  ascendency  in 
the  pulpit  of  the  Duomo.  Now  that  he  was  at- 
tempting to  break  up  the  old  order  entirely  and 
establish  a  new  city,  opposition  to  him  assumed 
more  definite  form  and  gathered  strength. 

Many  who  believed  in  the  popular  government 
because  they  thought  it  favorable  to  liberty  had  no 
sympathy  whatever  for  Savonarola  as  a  religious 
reformer.  The  adherents  of  the  Medici,  the  Bigi, 
bitterly  opposed  the  administration  which  had 
driven  out  their  chief ;  they  attempted  the  same  part 


164  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

played  by  the  royalists  of  England  two  centuries 
later  in  the  overthrow  of  Puritanism  and  the  resto- 
ration of  Charles  II.  The  Aristocrats,  too,  had  a 
party  furiously  opposed  to  the  reformer  and  his 
followers.  But  the  opposition  which  overtopped  all 
others  was  centered  in  Rome.  The  pope  now  rose 
to  strike  down  the  reformer  of  the  North,  who  had 
dared  speak  out  so  boldly  against  the  Church.  The 
man  who  had  braved  the  cunning  and  flattery  of 
Lorenzo  was  now  called  upon  to  measure  swords 
with  the  mightiest  monarch  of  Christendom.  Alex- 
ander VI  had  political  power  unmatched;  he  was 
the  spiritual  head  of  the  Church ;  he  held  the  keys 
of  Christendom, — in  unholy  hands  it  is  true,  but 
they  were  the  keys  of  St.  Peter.  A  more  unequal 
contest  could  hardly  be  imagined.  What  it  was 
the  following  pages  will  tell. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 
LETTERS,  PLOTS  AND  PAPAL  BRIEFS. 

AT  the  close  of  the  Lenten  season  in  1495  Sa- 
vonarola was  at  the  climax  of  his  power  and  influ- 
ence. No  question  was  discussed,  social,  political, 
religious,  or  moral,  that  Fra  Girolamo  was  not 
quoted  as  the  final  authority.  Yet  he  never  deliv- 
ered a  political  address,  never  harangued  the  crowd 
in  the  street,  never  was  seen  in  social  gatherings, 
never  spoke  at  any  of  the  tradespeople's  meetings. 
He  was  never  heard  except  from  the  pulpit.  The 
pulpit  was  his  throne  of  power,  and  from  it  he 
ruled  Florence.  He  was  the  acknowledged  spir- 
itual and  political  dictator  of  the  city.  And  that, 
too,  by  glad  common  consent,  for  his  was  "a 
heavenly  despotism."  But,  as  stated  in  the  last 
chapter,  there  was  a  lurking  opposition  to  Savon- 
arola which  began  with  his  popularity.  When  he 
became  the  acknowledged  master  of  Florence,  and 
particularly  when  he  began  the  reforms  which  so 
radically  changed  the  character  of  the  city,  jeal- 
ousy, envy,  and  hatred,  became  increasingly  active, 
and  the  opposition  began  to  come  out  into  the 
open. 

There  were  five  political   parties   in  Florence, 

the  Bigi,  the  Bianchi,  the  Arrabbiati,  the  Compag- 

nacci,  and  the  Piagnoni.    The  last  named  was  the 

great  party  of  the  people,  which  for  a  time  seemed 

'65 


1 66  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

to  carry  everything  before  it.  It  was  the  party  of 
Savonarola.  The'  name  Piagnoni,  meaning  "the 
weepers,"  was  given  in  derision.  The  Piagnoni 
were  strongly  opposed  to  the  Medici,  believed  in 
popular  government,  were  in  full  sympathy  with 
the  movement  for  moral  reform,  and  were  the  stout 
defenders  of  the  rights  of  the  people.  They  could 
always  be  depended  upon  to  take  up  arms  in  de- 
fense of  the  city.  They  were  the  devout  and  honest- 
minded  men  of  all  classes.  The  Arrabbiati,  or  "the 
furious,"  were  the  fierce  and  implacable  opponents 
of  Savonarola.  They  included  many  men  of  wealth 
and  rank,  whose  ambition  was  to  restore  to  Florence 
the  aristocratic  form  of  government  which  existed 
before  the  Medici  came  into  power.  They  were 
strongly  opposed  both  to  Savonarola  and  the 
Medici.  A  section  of  this  party  came  to  unenviable 
notoriety  later  as  the  Compagnacci,  "the  evil  com- 
panions." With  Dolfo  Spin!  as  their  leader,  they 
stopped  at  no  outrage  or  indecency  which  would 
in  any  way  break  the  power  of  Savonarola.  The 
Bianchi,  or  "the  whites"  as  they  were  called,  were 
the  radicals  of  Florence.  They  were  in  the  main 
favorable  to  the  popular  government,  but  objected 
to  the  limited  franchise,  and  did  not,  care  much  for 
religion.  The  Bigi,  or  "the  grays,"  were  the  ad- 
herents of  the  Medici.  Their  organization  was 
secret.  Though  under  great  obligation  to  Savon- 
arola for  the  general  amnesty  act  which  made  it 
possible  for  them  to  live  in  peace  and  safety,  they 
early  began  their  intrigues  for  Piero's  return,  and 
were  among  the  most  treacherous  of  all  Savon- 
arola's enemies. 


LETTERS,  PLOTS  AND  PAPAL  BRIEFS.       167 

Early  in  this  year  of  great  popularity  Savon- 
arola received  a  brief  from  Rome  directing  him  to 
preach  the  Lenten  sermons  for  that  year  at  Lucca. 
This  without  doubt  was  the  work  of  the  Arrabbiati, 
who  did  not  at  all  like  the  way  Savonarola  was 
giving  direction  to  the  affairs  of  State.  The  prior's 
reforms  and  political  measures  were  offensive  to 
them.  When  the  contents  of  the  brief  became 
known,  the  Signory  and  the  Council  of  Ten  drew 
up  letters  of  remonstrance,  asking  for  the  recall  of 
the  papal  brief,  explaining  that  conditions  in  the 
city  were  such  that  Savonarola  could  not  be  spared 
at  that  time.  These  remonstrances,  together  with 
several  private  letters  had  the  desired  effect,  and 
Savonarola  was  allowed  to  remain  in  the  pulpit  of 
the  Duomo.  It  is  not  difficult  to  understand  why 
it  was  so  easy  to  secure  the  recall  of  this  papal 
brief.  Charles  VIII  of  France  was  in  Naples,  and 
he  was  still  the  Protector  of  the  Liberties  of  Flor- 
ence. There  were  good  and  valid  reasons  why 
Alexander  did  not  care  just  now  to  incur  the  ill 
will  of  Charles. 

In  the  summer  following  the  Lenten  sermons 
which  contributed  so  largely  to  the  advancement 
of  the  reform  movement,  Florence  was  greatly  dis- 
turbed by  the  announcement  that  Charles  VIII  was 
marching  north  from  Naples,  and  that  Piero  de' 
Medici  was  with  him.  The  expedition  of  the 
French  had  been  one  continuous  triumph  from  the 
time  they  had  crossed  the  Alps  until  now.  But  a 
change  had  come.  Ludovico,  the  Moor,  with  other 
Italian  princes,  began  to  discover  that  the  French 
were  not  in  Italy  with  purpose  to  reform,  but  to 


1 68  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

plunder  for  their  own  personal  advantage.  Ludo- 
vico  felt  that  something  ought  to  be  done,  and  be- 
gan at  once  to  decide  upon  a  plan  to  drive  out  the 
invader.  The  plan  he  devised  was  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  "Holy  League,"  the  ostensible  purpose 
of  which  was  to  defend  Italy  against  the  Turks  and 
protect  the  rights  of  the  Chair  of  St.  Peter.  The 
real  purpose  was  to  drive  the  French  from  Italy, 
and  that  as  quickly  as  possible.  The  parties  com- 
posing this  league  were  the  pope,  the  emperor,  the 
King  of  Spain,  the  Republic  of  Venice,  and  the  Duke 
of  Milan.  The  French  ambassador,  the  shrewd  De 
Commines,  then  at  the  court  of  Venice,  saw  at  once 
the  purpose  of  the  league,  and  dispatched  a  quick 
messenger  to  his  master  in  Naples,  urging  imme- 
diate departure  for  France.  It  is  said  that  De  Com- 
mines himself  proceeded  to  Florence  for  an  inter- 
view with  the  man  who  had  prophesied  the  coming 
of  Charles  to  Italy,  to  inquire  whether  he  would 
be  able  to  depart  in  safety.  "Tell  his  majesty,  the 
most  Christian  king,"  said  Savonarola,  "that  God 
has  conferred  upon  him  many  benefits,  and  has 
granted  him  to  acquire  so  great  a  kingdom  without 
difficulty,  and  although  since  then  he  has  com- 
mitted many  sins,  God  will  not  fail  him,  and  he 
need  have  no  doubts  as  to  his  enemies,  for  he  will 
return  with  victory  into  his  own  kingdom  of 
France." 

When  the  news  came  to  Florence  that  Charles 
and  his  army  were  actually  approaching  their  ter- 
ritory the  whole  city  was  aroused.  The  Arrabbiati 
and  the  Piagnoni  were  one  in  their  purpose  to  pro- 
tect Florence  against  another  visit  from  Charles 


LETTERS,  PLOTS  AND  PAPAL  BRIEFS.       169 

and  his  plundering  soldiers.  In  this  crisis  the  Ar- 
rabbiati  prayed  as  well  as  counseled  for  the  protec- 
tion of  their  city.  It  would  seem  that  Savonarola 
felt  there  was  almost  too  much  praying  at  times 
iji  proportion  to  some  other  things  that  needed  to 
be  done.  "Offer  prayers,"  he  said  one  day  in  the 
pulpit,  "but  do  not  neglect  human  precautions.  We 
must  help  ourselves  in  every  way,  by  every  means, 
and  then  the  Lord  will  be  with  us.  Courage,  my 
brethren,  and  above  all  things  union.  If  you  will 
remain  united  and  agree  in  one  will,  even  if  the 
whole  world  were  against  us,  the  victory  will  be 
ours." 

A  delegation  was  sent  to  Charles  to  learn,  if 
possible,  his  plans.  They  found  him  at  Siena  but 
he  received  them  coldly,  was  curt  and  churlish. 
Every  question  they  asked  brought  a  rough  reply. 
They  inquired  by  what  road  he  intended  to  march 
through  their  territory,  in  order  that  they  might 
furnish  supplies?  The  blunt  answer  was,  "Fur- 
nish your  whole  territory."  It  is  not  at  all  surpris- 
ing that  the  interview  was  so  unsatisfactory.  Charles 
knew  that  the  city  of  Florence  was  in  arms,  and  the 
delegation  knew  that  Piero,  their  most  bitter  enemy, 
was  in  the  king's  camp. 

It  was  only  bad  news  that  the  ambassadors 
brought  back  to  Florence.  The  city  was  rilled  with 
alarm.  Once  more  the  authorities  turned  to  Sa- 
vonarola. Arrabbiati  as  well  as  Piagnoni  declared 
that  only  the  Prior  of  San  Marco  could  avert  the 
coming  calamity.  Savonarola  had  written  several 
letters  to  Charles  since  their  interview  in  the  Ric- 
cardi  palace  nine  months  before.  In  these  letters 


170  GiROivAMo  SAVONAROLA. 

he  had  charged  him,  as  the  chosen  instrument  of 
God,  to  be  faithful  to  the  work  to  which  he  had 
been  divinely  commissioned,  and  warned  him  of 
the  judgment  of  God  which  would  come  upon  him 
in  case  of  disobedience.  It  was  at  Poggionsi  that 
Savonarola  again  faced  the  haughty  King  of  France. 
In  prophetic  tone  he  reminded  him  of  their  former 
conferences,  of  his  broken  faith  with  God,  and  of 
his  present  situation  as  a  fugitive  surrounded  by 
new  and  uncertain  perils.  "Most  Christian  prince," 
the  message  sounds  like  Isaiah,  "thou  hast  provoked 
the  Lord  to  anger  by  breaking  faith  with  the  Flor- 
entines, by  forsaking  the  task  of  reforming  the 
Church,  that  the  Lord  had  so  often  announced  to 
thee  by  my  lips,  and  for  which  he  had  chosen  thee 
by  such  manifest  signs.  Thou  wilt  escape  from  the 
present  dangers;  but  shouldst  thou  fail  to  resume 
thy  abandoned  task,  shouldst  thou  fail  to  obey  the 
commands  which  the  Lord  once  more  repeateth  to 
thee  by  the  voice  of  his  poor  servant,  I  tell  thee 
that  still  heavier  woes  shall  be  poured  upon  thee 
by  His  wrath,  and  that  another  shall  be  chosen  in 
thy  stead."  The  king,  it  is  said,  was  terror  struck 
by  the  manner  and  message  of  the  man  who  had 
prophesied  his  coming  and  now  so  fearlessly  warned 
him  of  his  duty.  Orders  were  given  that  the  army 
should  immediately  march  towards  Pisa.  Savon- 
arola was  earnestly  entreated  to  accompany  the 
king  on  the  march.  He  did  go  with  him  for  a 
short  distance,  but  at  Castel  Fiorentino  he  spoke  a 
farewell  message  and  returned  to  Florence. 

On  the  2  ist  of  June  Savonarola  announced  from 
the  Duomo  pulpit  that  the  danger  was  over.    The 


LETTERS,  PLOTS  AND  PAPAL  BRIEFS.       171 

announcement  was  made  in  most  characteristic 
fashion.  "Here  I  am  once  more  among  you.  You 
ask  me,  'Father,  have  you  brought  us  some  good 
news  ?'  Yes,  good  news ;  I  bring  nothing  but  good 
news.  You  know  that  in  time  of  prosperity  I 
brought  you  bad  news,  and  now  in  your  tribula- 
tion I  bring  nothing  but  good  news ;  good  news  for 
Florence."  "I  have  been  yonder  in  the  camp,"  he 
went  on  to  say,  "which  is  like  being  in  hell.  Do 
not  ever  allow  yourself  to  desire  to  be  a  great  lord, 
for  such  men  never  have  an  hour  of  true  peace  and 
happiness."  He  then  described  how  he  had  gone  to 
his  majesty  the  king,  and  what  message  he  had 
brought  him.  "He  heard  me  with  kindness,"  said 
the  preacher,  "and  promised  me  to  do  what  I 
bade  him."  Charles  did  not  do  all  he  promised. 
He  did,  however,  refrain  from  trying  to  enter  Flor- 
ence again. 

Savonarola  now  stood  high  in  public  favor.  His 
praises  were  on  the  lips  of  all.  But  the  departure 
of  Charles  gave  Rome  an  opportunity.  The  great 
French  king  was  no  longer  the  effective  Protector 
of  the  Liberties  of  Florence.  Before  describing 
how  Rome  seized  the  opportunity  offered  for  si- 
lencing the  preacher  whose  words  had  been  so 
offensive,  something  ought  to  be  said  about  a 
serious  menace  to  the  fortunes  of  the  Republic, 
which  was  nothing  less  than  the  attempt  of  Piero 
to  return  to  power.  Savonarola  suspected  that  a 
secret  movement  was  on,  and  gave  himself  with 
great  energy  to  the  bringing  about  of  a  change  in 
the  constitution  which  would  save  Florence  from 
drifting  again  into  the  hands  of  tyrants.  There 


172  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

still  existed  under  the  constitution  the  possibility 
of  calling  a  Parlamento.  Savonarola  knew  that  the 
safety  of  the  State  depended  on  the  Great  Coun- 
cil already  established.  He  would  have  every  mem- 
ber of  the  Signory  take  an  oath  on  entering  office 
that  he  would  not  call,  or  have  any  part  in  calling, 
a  Parlamento.  "If  any  one  will  do  this,"  said  he 
one  day  from  the  pulpit,  "if  he  be  of  the  Signory, 
let  his  head  be  struck  off;  if  he  be  not  of  it,  let 
him  be  declared  a  rebel,  and  his  goods  confiscated." 
Then,  in  words  which  seem  far  from  what  is  proper 
in  the  pulpit,  he  said:  "If  the  Signory,  as  a  body, 
should  endeavor  to  summon  a  Parlamento,  the  mo- 
ment they  appear  in  front  of  the  Palazzo  any  man 
may  cut  them  to  pieces  without  being  guilty  of  sin." 
Such  extravagance  and  violence  of  speech  was 
freely  excused  by  the  Florentines  a  little  later,  when 
the  news  came  that  Piero  had  raised  an  army  and 
was  marching  against  the  city  gates. 

The  enterprise  failed  utterly  and  Piero  was  dis- 
graced, even  in  the  eyes  of  his  friends.  But  more 
than  ever  the  liberty-loving  citizens  of  Florence 
saw  the  importance  of  doing  everything  in  their 
power  to  protect  their  city  against  the  return  of  the 
tyrant.  They,  therefore,  shouted  in  praise  of  Sa- 
vonarola when  he  cried  out  in  the  pulpit  that  who- 
ever would  seek  to  bring  back  the  Medici  to  Flor- 
ence should  be  put  to  death.  "Will  you  who  pay 
no  respect  to  Christ,  have  respect  to  private  citi- 
zens? Do  justice,  I  tell  you.  Off  with  his  head! 
Even  were  he  the  chief  of  the  first  family  in  the 
city,  off,  I  say,  with  his  head!  Trust  in  naught 
but  the  Great  Council,  which  is  the  work  of  God 


LETTERS,  PLOTS  AND  PAPAL  BRIEFS.       173 

and  not  of  man,  and  whosoever  would  change  it, 
or  set  up  a  tyrant,  or  place  the  government  in  the 
hands  of  private  citizens,  let  him  be  accursed  of 
the  Lord  forever."  These  are  severe  words,  but 
they  fairly  represent  the  intense  spirit  of  patriotism 
which  prevailed  in  Florence  in  the  driving  out  of 
the  Medici  and  in  the  making  of  the  new  consti- 
tution. 

Charles  gone  and  Piero  gone,  the  way  was  now 
open  for  the  Arrabbiati  and  Alexander.  Ludovico, 
the  Moor,  too,  saw  an  opportunity.  The  people's 
preacher,  so  Ludovico  had  been  told,  had  reflected 
in  some  of  his  sermons  on  his  "fair  name"  and  he 
would  be  avenged.  Piero  and  Fra  Mariano,  both 
now  in  Rome,  were  eager  to  indorse,  amplify,  and 
exaggerate  any  reports  which  told  of  Fra  Giro- 
lamo's  outspoken  arraignment  of  the  leaders  of  the 
Church  and  the  corruptions  of  the  court  of  Rome. 
The  Arrabbiati  took  pains  that  all  previous  criti- 
cisms of  the  Prior  of  San  Marco  should  now  be 
repeated  in  Rome.  The  pope  was  urged  to  silence 
the  voice  which  had  been  raised  so  effectively 
against  vice  and  bad  government  in  Florence,  and 
which  had  brought  about  such  transformations  in 
the  city  that  scenes  of  revelry  and  debauch  were 
almost  a  thing  of  the  past.  They  made  much  of  the 
prior's  prophecies  and  visions,  but  what  they  most 
complained  of,  good  Catholics  that  they  were,  was 
his  open  criticisms  of  the  Holy  Father. 

The  pope  had  long  been  smothering  his  wrath 
and  waiting  an  opportunity  to  strike  the  daring 
preacher.  The  opportunity  had  now  come.  A 
papal  brief  was  addressed  to  Savonarola  dated  July 


174  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

25,  1495.  I*  runs  as  follows:  "To  our  well  be- 
loved son,  greeting  and  apostolic  benediction:  We 
have  heard  that  of  all  the  workers  in  the  Lord's 
vineyard,  thou  art  the  most  zealous;  at  the  which 
we  deeply  rejoice,  and  give  thanks  to  Almighty 
God.  We  have  likewise  heard  that  thou  dost  assert 
that  thy  predictions  of  the  future  proceed  not  from 
thee  but  from  God;  wherefore  we  desire,  as  be- 
hooves our  pastoral  office,  to  have  speech  with  thee 
concerning  these  things;  so  that  being,  by  thy 
means,  better  informed  of  God's  will,  we  may  be 
the  better  able  to  fulfill  it.  Wherefore,  by  thy  vow 
of  holy  obedience,  we  enjoin  thee  to  wait  on  us 
without  delay,  and  shall  welcome  thee  with  loving 
kindness." 

The  friends  of  Savonarola  believed  that  this  in- 
vitation meant  simply  a  dungeon  in  the  Castle  of 
St.  Angelo.  The  Arrabbiati  were  now  openly  boast- 
ing of  their  influence  at  the  court  of  Rome.  More 
than  once  plots  had  been  discovered  by  which  they 
had  purposed  by  steel  or  poison  to  take  the  life  of 
the  man  whose  lashings  and  stinging  rebukes  they 
had  so  keenly  felt.  Savonarola  had  already  an- 
nounced to  the  people  that  his  exhausted  physical 
condition  would  make  it  necessary  for  him  to  dis- 
continue his  sermons  for  a  time.  With  his  high 
ideals  of  obedience  there  was  nothing  for  him  to 
do  but  to  yield  submission  to  papal  authority,  but 
he  determined  to  preach  one  more  sermon  before 
writing  his  reply.  It  was  one  of  his  "terrible  ser- 
mons;" so  he  said  afterwards.  Broken  and  ex- 
hausted physically,  he  was  hardly  able  to  drag  him- 
self up  the  stairs  of  the  pulpit;  but  once  on  his 


LETTERS,  PLOTS  AND  PAPAL  BRIEFS.       175 

throne,  and  looking  down  into  the  expectant  faces 
of  the  people,  he  was  a  man  of  strength  again  and 
spoke  his  message  with  power.  Not  knowing  what 
was  before  him  he  seemed  to  feel  it  important  to 
gather  up  in  this  sermon  all  his  essential  teachings. 
He  poured  out  his  soul  against  the  abuses  and  evils 
still  prevailing  in  Florence,  and  in  righteous  wrath 
pronounced  a  curse  on  those  who  were  guilty  of 
polluting  the  favored  city  of  God.  He  urged  the 
Signory  to  give  earnest  attention  to  affairs  of  real 
importance  and  not  waste  their  time  in  petty  mat- 
ters. In  closing  he  said:  "My  people,  when  I 
stand  here  I  am  always  strong;  and  if,  when  out 
of  the  pulpit,  I  could  feel  as  when  in  it,  I  should 
always  be  well.  But  after  descending  these  stairs 
I  believe  that  my  pains  will  return,  and  for  this 
reason  some  time  will  pass  before  I  see  you  again, 
for  I  must  needs  wait  a  little  to  recover.  Then,  if 
still  living,  I  will  again  begin  to  preach."  He  told 
them  that  probably  a  month  would  elapse  before  he 
would  again  enter  the  pulpit;  in  the  meantime  Fra 
Dominico  would  preach ;  he  was  confident  that  the 
welfare  of  Florence  would  be  cared  for;  it  was 
God's  will.  "I  must  now  conclude,"  said  he,  "for 
I  have  preached  so  often,  and  labored  so  hard,  as 
to  have  shortened  my  life  by  many  years,  and  am 
fallen  very  weak.  Well,  brother,  what  reward 
wouldst  thou  have?  I  would  have  martyrdom;  I 
am  content  to  endure  it ;  I  pray  for  it  each  day,  O 
Lord,  for  love  of  this  city." 

In  the  sermon  just  referred  to  Savonarola  ap- 
pears as  the  fearless  preacher  of  righteousness,  the 
far-seeing  Christian  statesman,  and  the  true  pa- 


176  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

triot.  The  reference  to  martyrdom  indicates  a  new 
note  coming  into  his  preaching.  Even  now  he  must 
have  seen  that  so  far  as  he  was  personally  con- 
cerned he  was  fighting  a  losing  battle.  No  one 
man,  however  great  and  strong,  could  stand  for 
any  length  of  time  against  such  opposition.  Re- 
turning to  the  monastery  he  immediately  wrote  his 
reply  to  the  papal  brief.  In  it  he  declared  that  he 
had  long  desired  to  visit  Rome  and  worship  at  the 
shrine  of  the  apostles  Peter  and  Paul.  "But  I  am 
barely  issued  from  a  very  serious  malady  the  which 
hath  forced  me  to  suspend  both  preaching  and 
study,  and  still  threateneth  my  life.  .  .  .  Further- 
more, I  am  bound  rather  to  obey  the  benign  pur- 
pose of  the  command  than  the  mere  words  in  which 
it  is  framed.  Now,  inasmuch  as  the  Lord,  by  my 
means,  hath  saved  this  city  from  much  bloodshed, 
and  subjected  it  to  good  and  holy  laws,  there  be 
many  adversaries,  both  within  and  without  the  city, 
who,  having  sought  to  enslave  it,  and  having  been 
confounded  instead,  now  seek  my  blood,  and  have 
since  attempted  my  life  by  steel  and  poison.  Where- 
fore, I  could  not  depart  without  manifest  risk,  nor 
can  I  even  walk  through  the  city  without  an  armed 
escort.  Also,  this  newly  reformed  government,  that 
the  Lord  hath  been  pleased,  by  my  means,  to  give 
to  Florence,  is  not  yet  firmly  rooted,  and  is  visibly 
in  danger  without  continued  assistance;  wherefore, 
in  the  judgment  of  all  good  and  experienced  citi- 
zens, my  departure  would  be  of  great  hurt  to  the 
city,  while  of  scant  profit  to  Rome.  I  can  not 
suppose  that  my  superior  would  desire  the  ruin  of  a 
whole  city;  and,  therefore,  trust  that  your  holiness 


LETTERS,  PLOTS  AND  PAPAL  BRIEFS.       177 

will  graciously  accede  to  this  delay,  so  that  the  re- 
form begun  by  the  Lord's  will  may  be  brought  to 
perfection,  since  I  am  certain  that  it  is  for  the  good 
of  the  same  that  he  hath  now  raised  up  these 
hindrances  to  my  journey. 

"And  should  your  holiness  desire  greater  cer- 
titude on  the  matters  publicly  foretold  by  me  con- 
cerning the  chastisement  of  Italy  and  the  renova- 
tion of  the  Church,  you  will  find  them  set  forth 
in  a  book  of  mine  that  is  now  being  made  public 
('Compendium  Revelationum').  I  was  anxious 
to  have  these  predictions  put  in  print,  so  that,  should 
they  be  not  fulfilled,  the  world  may  know  me  to 
be  a  false  prophet.  But  there  are  other  things  of  a 
more  hidden  nature  that  must  still  remain  veiled; 
and  which  I  may  not  as  yet  reveal  to  any  mortal. 

"Accordingly,  I  beseech  your  holiness  to  gra- 
ciously accept  my  very  true  and  plain  excuse,  and 
to  believe  that  it  is  my  ardent  desire  to  come  to 
Rome;  wherefore,  as  soon  as  possible,  I  shall  spur 
myself  to  set  forth." 

Alexander  made  no  formal  reply  to  this  letter, 
but  he  did  in  some  way  communicate  the  informa- 
tion that  the  apology  for  delay  was  satisfactory. 
In  less  than  thirty  days  thereafter  a  most  unex- 
pected thing  happened,  which  proved  a  decided 
shock  to  Savonarola  and  his  friends.  A  papal  brief 
arrived  from  Rome  addressed  to  the  monks  of  a 
neighboring  monastery,  describing  Savonarola  as 
"a  certain  Fra  Girolamo,  a  seeker  after  novelty, 
and  a  disseminator  of  false  doctrines."  The  brief 
commanded  that  the  monastery  of  San  Marco 
should  again  be  reunited  with  the  Lombard  con- 

12 


178  GiROivAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

gregation,  and  that  Savonarola  should  refrain  from 
every  description  of  preaching,  whether  public  or 
private;  all  this  under  pain  of  excommunication. 

Nothing  in  all  the  correspondence  between  Sa- 
vonarola and  Alexander  VI  is  so  hard  to  explain 
as  this  brief.  Only  a  few  weeks  before  Savonarola 
had  been  addressed  as  a  "beloved  son."  He  is  now 
described  as  "a  certain  Fra  Girolamo."  Nothing 
had  been  done  since  the  former  brief  to  merit  the 
pope's  displeasure.  What  had  happened?  Political 
reasons  were  undoubtedly  .part  of  the  cause  of  the 
sudden  and  radical  change  in  the  pope's  attitude. 
Alexander  did  not  like  the  Republic  of  Florence, 
yet  he  did  not  dare  openly  to  antagonize  it.  If  he 
could  crush  Savonarola  on  other  grounds  than  be- 
cause of  relations  with  the  Republic,  his  end  would 
be  gained. 

Savonarola  immediately  wrote  to  influential 
Dominicans  in  Rome  complaining  of  the  action  of 
evil-minded  citizens  who  would  fain  re-establish 
tyranny  in  Florence.  "All  these  men,"  said  he, 
"seek  my  death."  In  a  letter  to  the  pope,  written 
on  the  iQth  of  September,  he  lamented  that  his 
enemies  should  have  succeeded  in  deceiving  the 
holy  father  regarding  events  which  had  occurred 
openly  and  in  the  presence  of  many  witnesses.  He 
declared  his  submission  to  the  Church,  and  re- 
minded the  pope  that  the  brief  granting  the  inde- 
pendence of  San  Marco  had  not  been  secured  by 
the  application  of  a  few  friars,  but  at  the  request 
of  all.  He  maintained  that  as  he  had  not  lapsed 
into  error,  and  as  he  had  proved  the  falsity  of  all 
the  charges  brought  against  him,  the  holy  father 


LETTERS,  PLOTS  AND  PAPAL  BRIEFS.       179 

ought  to  reply  to  his  defense  and  grant  him  absolu- 
tion. "I  preach,"  said  he,  "the  doctrine  of  the  holy 
apostles,  have  departed  in  nothing  from  their  pre- 
cepts, and  am  ready,  if  I  should  be  in  error,  not 
only  to  correct  myself,  but  to  avow  it  publicly,  and 
make  amends  before  the  whole  people.  And  now 
again  I  repeat  that  which  I  have  always  said,  that  is, 
that  I  submit  myself  and  my  writings  to  the  cor- 
rection of  the  Hory  Roman  Church."  Alexander 
accepted  the  defense,  and  in  a  most  conciliatory 
brief,  dated  October  i6th,  professed  his  gratification 
that  Savonarola  was  so  willing  to  yield  obedience 
to  the  Church  and  required  only  that  he  abstain 
from  all  preaching  until  such  time  as  he  might  con- 
fer with  him  in  Rome. 

It  was  a  piece  of  good  fortune  for  Savonarola 
that  this  brief  was  a  long  while  in  getting  to  Flor- 
ence. Time  was  given  for  important  words  to  be 
spoken  in  the  Duomo,  words  vital  to  the  safety  of 
the  city.  But  when  the  brief  did  come  it  was 
obeyed.  The  preacher  betook  himself  to  the  quiet 
of  the  monastery  and  there  devoted  his  time  to  rest 
and  study. 

Savonarola  believed  with  all  his  soul  in  the  jus- 
tice of  his  cause;  his  eyes  were  not  blind  to  the 
scandals  of  Rome;  and,  perhaps,  even  as  early  as 
this,  he  gave  serious  thought  to  the  possibility  of  a 
general  church  council  which  should  declare  Alex- 
ander's election  null  and  void.  Cardinal  Rovere 
believed  this  ought  to  be  done.  To  him  Alexander 
was  "an  infidel  and  a  heretic,"  who  had  purchased 
St.  Peter's  chair  for  money.  He  was,  therefore, 
not  a  true  pope.  When  King  Charles  was  in  Rome 


i8o  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

eighteen  cardinals  waited  upon  him,  asking  him 
to  call  a  general  council,  on  the  ground  that  Alex- 
ander had  not  been  legally  elected.  Cardinal  Ro- 
vere  and  Savonarola  exchanged  more  than  one  let- 
ter on  the  subject. 

Some  rare  and  beautiful  glimpses  into  these 
months  of  retirement  which  followed  are  to  be 
seen  in  the  personal  letters  of  Savonarola  written 
to  members  of  his  family.  He  shared  all  their  suf- 
ferings and  joys.  A  letter  to  his  mother,  on  learn- 
ing of  the  death  of  one  of  his  brothers,  is  evidence 
of  his  fine  feelings  and  his  tender  love  for  his  home, 
and  particularly  for  her  who  was  the  center  of 
his  human  affections.  But  even  in  writing  to  his 
mother  he  does  not  forget  his  lofty  mission  or  the 
great  matters  of  Christian  faith  and  practice  which 
are  upon  his  heart.  He  closes  with  heroic  words 
to  prepare  for  her  the  tragic  end  which  even  now 
casts  its  shadow  upon  him.  "I  would  that  your 
faith  were  as  that  of  the  holy  Jewish  woman  in 
the  Old  Testament,  so  that  you  might  be  able, 
without  shedding  a  tear,  to  see  your  children  mur- 
dered before  your  eyes.  Dearest  mother,  I  say  not 
this  in  order  to  comfort  you ;  but  to  prepare  you, 
lest  I  should  have  to  die."  Padre  Marchese  when 
shown  this  letter  said  after  reading  it,  "Were  all 
the  writings  of  Fra  Girolamo  Savonarola  perished 
or  destroyed,  this  letter  would  be  sufficient  proof 
of  the  sincere  and  steadfast  piety  of  his  soul." 

Fra  Dominico  was  preaching  the  Advent  ser- 
mons in  the  Duomo  now.  Strong  preacher  he  was, 
too,  and  represented  well  his  master's  teaching.  But 
as  the  carnival  approached,  the  Arrabbiati,  grown 


LETTERS,  PLOTS  AND  PAPAL  BRIEFS.       iSi 

bold  because  of  their  confidence  in  the  favor  of 
Rome,  planned  to  celebrate  in  true  Medicean  style. 
That  meant  lewd  songs  and  indecent  ballads,  wild 
revelry,  drunkenness  and  debauch.  The  boys  of 
Florence  took  great  delight  in  the  carnival.  There 
was  no  law  during  carnival  days.  That  they  liked. 
They  cajoled  and  pestered  the  people  in  the  day- 
time to  get  money  for  their  bonfires  and  feastings 
at  night.  After  the  bonfire,  came  what  one  of  the 
chroniclers  calls  "the  mad  and  bestial  game  of 
stones."  All  this  had  been  greatly  held  in  check, 
and  some  features  stopped  altogether,  by  the  reform 
movement  of  Savonarola.  But  now  that  the  re- 
former was  under  ban  of  the  pope,  the  Arrabbiati 
would  have  a  carnival  to  be  remembered.  The 
boys,  and  they  were  the  same  then  as  now,  were 
ready  and  eager  for  any  carnival  the  Arrabbiati 
might  get  up. 

It  was  now  that  Savonarola  decided  upon  a  re- 
form movement  among  the  children.  He  well  knew 
that  it  would  be  no  easy  task  to  break  up  old  cus- 
toms, but  he  had  a  habit  always  of  attempting  the 
thing  he  thought  necessary  to  be  done.  His  plan 
was  to  substitute  religious  gayeties  for  carnival 
gayeties.  At  the  street  corners  where  the  boys  had 
gathered  to  demand  money  of  the  passers-by,  he 
placed  small  altars  at  which  these  same  boys  were 
to  stand  and  collect  money  for  the  poor.  In  the 
old  carnival  days  there  was  much  singing  in  the 
streets,  singing  well  suited  to  prepare  the  gay  rev- 
elers for  what  was  to  go  on  under  cover  of  night. 
Savonarola  had  too  much  good  sense  to  try  to  stop 
the  singing.  He  said  to  the  boys,  "Sing  as  much 


1 82  GIROI,AMO  SAVONAROLA. 

as  you  will,  but  sing  hymns  and  not  immoral  songs. 
I  will  write  songs  for  you."  He  got  Benivieni  to 
help  him.  In  all  the  streets  of  Florence  the  chil- 
dren sang  the  new  songs;  sang  gayly  and  happily 
of  the  Christ  Child,  the  Bambino;  and  with  glad 
voices  they  shouted  in  the  midst  of  their  singing, 
"Gesu  Christo  nostro  Re."  In  order  that  all  might 
be  done  decently  and  in  order,  Savonarola  had  di- 
rected Fra  Domenico  to  select  leaders  from  among 
the  boys  to  visit  the  Signory  and  lay  their  plan 
before  the  city  fathers  and  ask  for  their  consent. 

These  leaders  acted  as  captains  of  companies 
to  arrange  little  processions  and  to  sing  about  the 
altars.  Enthusiasm  ran  high.  There  was  hardly 
less  gayety  and  noise  than  before,  but  it  was  of  a 
different  kind.  "The  bestial  game  of  stones"  was 
stopped  altogether,  and  three  hundred  ducats  were 
collected  for  the  poor.  When  the  last  day  of  the 
carnival  came  there  was  a  great  procession;  not 
only  the  children  but  a  large  part  of  the  population 
were  in  it.  The  children  sang  their  hymns  and 
shouted  their  "Gesu  Christo."  They  entered  the 
churches  and  sang  there;  then  out  in  the  street 
again,  always  singing  and  always  shouting  their 
"Gesu  Christo."  The  procession  ended  with  a 
visit  to  the  "Good  Men  of  St.  Martin,"  to  whom 
they  handed  over  their  carnival  offering  for  the 
poor. 

There  is  perhaps  nothing  in  all  Savonarola's 
mighty  work  in  Florence  which  so  brings  us  into 
sympathy  with  him  as  this  ministry  among  the 
children.  With  rare  tact  and  wisdom  he  carried 
on  the  work;  now  directing  their  activities  in  col- 


LETTERS,  PLOTS  AND  PAPAL  BRIEFS.       183 

lecting  money  for  the  poor;  now  gathering  them 
into  spacious  galleries  built  up  in  the  Duomo  where 
he  preached  to  them;  and  now  forming  them  in 
great  processions  in  the  streets,  all  of  them  in 
white  and  all  carrying  little  red  crosses.  Savon- 
arola loved  children,  and  from  this  carnival  season 
to  the  close  of  his  life  he  was  their  devoted  friend, 
adviser,  and  leader.  All  unconsciously  he  was  pre- 
paring the  way  for  John  Wesley  and  Robert  Raikes. 


CHAPTER   XV. 
THE  BURNING  OF  THE  VANITIES. 

As  THE  preacher  improved  in  health,  his  friends 
devoted  themselves  with  energy  to  securing  the 
recall,  or  at  least  a  modification,  of  the  papal  brief. 
The  Ten,  composed  entirely  of  Savonarola's  adher- 
ents, were  particularly  active  in  writing  letters  to 
the  pope  and  to  many  of  the  cardinals.  They  re- 
peatedly urged  the  Florentine  ambassador  at  Rome 
to  use  his  influence  to  secure  the  pope's  permis- 
sion for  Savonarola  to  return  to  the  pulpit.  "You 
could  do  nothing,"  they  said,  "that  would  be  more 
grateful  and  welcome  to  all  your  fellow-citizens  or 
better  appreciated  by  the  good  sense  of  this  whole 
population."  Largely  through  the  good  offices  of 
the  Cardinal  of  Naples,  who  will  be  remembered  as 
the  cardinal  who  so  shrewdly  secured  the  brief 
which  gave  independence  to  San  Marco,  the  pope 
finally  gave  consent  that  Savonarola  should  again 
preach.  This  consent  was  probably  given  with  the 
hope  that  the  preacher  would  modify  his  words, 
and  tone  down  his  criticisms  of  Rome.  No  sooner 
was  the  glad  news  brought  to  Florence,  than  the 
Signory  unanimously  invited  Savonarola  to  be  the 
preacher  in  the  Duomo  during  the  Lenten  season 
then  at  hand. 

An  event  now  happened,  which,  to  Savonarola, 
was  frightfully  suggestive  of  the  degradation  of 
184 


THE  BURNING  OF  THE  VANITIES.         185 

Rome.  A  papal  commissioner,  Ludovico  by  name, 
was  sent  to  Florence  to  offer  him  a  cardinal's  hat. 
There  is  a  story  connected  with  the  coming  of  this 
commissioner  which  seems  to  have  good  founda- 
tion in  fact.  It  runs  thus:  The  pope  placed  some 
of  Savonarola's  sermons,  probably  the  recently  pub- 
lished ''.Compendium  of  Revelations,"  in  the  hands 
of  a  learned  Dominican  bishop,  with  the  request 
that  he  pass  judgment  upon  them.  After  going 
over  them  carefully,  the  bishop  reported  that  the 
prior  had  said  nothing  which  was  not  honest  and 
wise.  "He  speaks  against  simony  and  against  the 
corruption  of  the  priesthood,  which  in  truth,  is  very 
great,  but  he  respects  the  dogmas  and  the  authority 
of  the  Church;  wherefore  I  would  rather  seek  to 
make  him  my  friend,  even  were  it  needful,  by  of- 
fering him  the  cardinal's  purple." 

How  soon  after  this  the  papal  commissioner  was 
sent  is  not  known,  nor  is  it  positively  known  just 
what  motive  Alexander  had  in  making  the  offer. 
Perhaps  he  thought  it  wise,  as  the  bishop  suggested, 
to  make  Savonarola  his  friend.  Was  it  not  worth 
while  to  have  such  a  friend?  It  is,  of  course,  pos- 
sible, and  to  many  it  seems  probable,  that  the  pope's 
motive  was  simply  to  silence  the  preacher.  It  has 
been  whispered,  even  so  late  as  our  own  time,  that 
the  best  way  to  deal  with  a  radical  in  the  Church 
is  to  make  a  bishop  of  him.  There  is  something 
about  the  high  and  holy  office,  so  it  is  said,  which 
tends  to  soften  tone  and  modify  teaching.  What- 
ever may  have  been  the  pope's  motive  in  offering 
the  hat.  it  is  certain  that  Savonarola  looked  upon 
it  as  bribery  and  barter.  As  such,  he  scorned  it. 


1 86  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

But  suppose  he  had  accepted  the  offer!  The  title 
of  this  volume  would  then  be  "Cardinal  Savon- 
arola." No!  The  book  would  never  have  been 
written ;  nor  any  other  book  telling  of  the  life  and 
character  of  the  great  preacher  of  Florence.  "Come 
to  my  next  sermon,"  said  Savonarola  to  the  papal 
commissioner,  "and  you  shall  have  my  reply."  The 
commissioner,  listening  for  the  promised  reply, 
heard  the  abuses  of  Rome  denounced,  the  papal 
briefs  pronounced  invalid,  the  fatal  malady  of  the 
Tiber  vividly  described,  and  could  not  fail  to  dis- 
cover that  here  was  a  preacher  who  would  have  no 
red  hat  but  one  made  red  by  his  own  blood.  "I 
desire,"  said  he,  "neither  hats  or  miters,  be  they 
great  or  small;  I  desire  naught  save  that  which 
Thou,  O  Lord,  hast  given  Thy  saints ;  it  is  death ; 
a  crimson  hat,  a  hat  of  blood;  that  I  desire." 

The  1 7th  day  of  February,  1496,  has  been  well 
described  as  a  memorable  day  in  the  life  of  Savon- 
arola. On  that  day,  and  by  the  pope's  permission, 
he  stood  again  in  the  pulpit  of  the  Duomo.  After 
months  of  compulsory  silence,  and  fresh  from  the 
disgraceful  red  hat  affair,  it  is  not  hard  to  imagine 
what  his  state  of  mind  was.  Grief  and  indignation 
strove  for  mastery.  Savonarola  now  saw,  and 
clearly,  too,  that  all  his  crimes  against  Rome  were 
summed  up  in  this,  that  he  had  dared  to  uphold 
political  freedom  and  Christian  virtue.  But  he  had 
a  conscience  void  of  offense,  and  in  that  strength 
he  could  stand.  Aye,  and  face  the  mightiest  of  the 
earth. 

Great  preparations  had  been  made  to  take  care 
of  the  crowds  expected  at  this  sermon  and  the  ones 
to  follow.  The  spacious  floor  of  the  Duomo  would 


THE  BURNING  OF  THE;  VANITIES.         187 

not  be  sufficient.  Everybody  knew  that.  A  great 
amphitheater  was  built  up  against  the  walls  of  the 
nave,  sixteen  tiers  of  seats  in  height.  The  Signory 
had  spared  no  pains  to  see  that  order  was  main- 
tained. They  knew  that  the  Arrabbiati  would  be 
there  with  stilettos,  and  hired  assassins,  too,  sent 
by  the  Moor  of  Milan. 

A  great  crowd  waited  for  Savonarola  as  he  came 
out  of  the  San  Marco  gate  and  well-armed  men 
formed  a  body-guard  as  he  walked  to  the  Duomo. 
When  he  stood  in  the 'pulpit  he  faced  an  audience 
the  like  of  which  he  had  never  looked  upon  before, 
an  excited,  nervous,  breathless  audience.  The  con- 
flicting emotions  of  the  speaker  and  the  highly 
wrought  expectancy  of  the  hearers  combined  to 
make  the  sermon  far  more  impressive  than  one 
could  ever  guess  from  reading  it.  Never  had  Sa- 
vonarola's eyes  gleamed  and  flashed  fire  as  they  did 
that  day.  But  when  the  regal  power  back  of  flash- 
ing eye  gave  command,  there  was  perfect  quiet  and 
the  sermon  began  with  calm  voice.  The  opening 
sentences  were  in  the  form  of  a  dialogue.  "How  is 
it,  O  Friar,  that  thou  hast  tarried  so  long  in  idle- 
ness, without  coming  to  the  camp  to  thy  soldiers' 
aid  ? — My  children,  I  have  not  been  in  idleness ;  on 
the  contrary,  I  come  from  the  camp,  and  have  been 
defending  a  stronghold,  the  which,  had  it  been  cap- 
tured, you  also  might  have  been  destroyed ;  but  now, 
by  God's  grace  and  through  your  prayers,  we  have 
saved  it.  ...  Come,  brother,  dost  thou  perhaps  fear 
to  be  killed? — No,  my  children,  certainly  not;  for 
had  I  been  afraid,  I  should  not  have  come  here, 
where  I  am  now,  in  greater  peril  than  before." 


188  GlROLAMO    SAVONAROtA. 

After  making  it  clear  that  the  question  of  his 
orthodoxy  was  beyond  dispute  he  touched  upon 
the  delicate  question  of  his  relations  with  Rome. 
At  this  time  and  again  in  the  closing  sermon  of 
the  series,  he  said,  "We  are  not  compelled  to  obey 
all  commands ;  when  given  in  consequence  of  lying 
reports  they  are  invalid ;  when  in  evident  contradic- 
tion with  the  law  of  charity  laid  down  in  the  Gos- 
pel, it  is  our  duty  to  resist  them,  even  as  St.  Paul 
resisted  St.  Peter.  We  are  bound  to  presume  that 
no  such  commands  will  be  imposed  on  us,  but  in 
case  they  were  imposed,  we  must  then  reply  to 
our  superior,  saying,  'Thou  dost  err,  thou  art  not 
the  Roman  Church,  thou  art  a  man  and  a  sinner !' " 
In  taking  this  bold  position  he  was  careful  to  make 
it  plain  that  he  did  it  with  good  reason.  This  is 
shown  in  the  following  sentence :  "Were  I  to  clearly 
see  that  my  departure  from  a  city  would  be  the 
spiritual  and  temporal  ruin  of  the  people,  I  would 
obey  no  living  man  that  commanded  me  to  de- 
part, for  inasmuch  in  obeying  him  I  should  disobey 
the  commands  of  the  Lord ;  and  likewise  because  I 
should  presume  that  my  superior  had  no  inten- 
tion to  do  evil,  but  had  been  misled  by  false  re- 
ports." He  confesses  utter  lack  of  knowledge  as 
to  the  outcome  of  his  work.  "I  have  embarked  'on 
a  stormy  flood,  assailed  on  all  sides  by  contrary 
winds.  I  would  fain  reach  the  port,  yet  I  can  find 
no  dock;  would  fain  repose,  yet  find  no  resting- 
place;  would  fain  remain  still  and  silent  but  may 
not  for  the  will  of  God  is  as  a  fire  in  my  heart, 
which  unless  I  give  it  vent,  will  consume  the  mar- 
row of  my  bones.  Come,  O  Lord,  since  thou  dost 


THE  BURNING  OF  THE  VANITIES.         189 

have  me  steer  through  these  deep  waters,  let  thy 
will  be  done." 

This  sermon  was  a  forecast  of  the  entire  series, 
a  series  which  commanded  the  most  intense  interest 
throughout.  The  descriptions  of  the  corruptions 
and  scourges  were  as  thrilling  and  new  as  though 
heard  for  the  first  time.  And  they  were  new.  The 
theme  was  a  living  one.  It  was  related  to  all  the 
life  of  Florence.  When  the  preacher  cried  out, 
"Wretched  Italy!  I  see  thee  stricken  down; 
wretched  people!  how  I  see  thee  all  oppressed," 
the  people  groaned  and  bowed  their  heads  in  grief. 
When  the  mortal  malady  of  Rome  was  the  theme, 
and  the  pride,  greed,  lusts,  and  ambition  of  princes 
and  prelates  were  pointed  out  as  the  cause  of  Italy's 
woes,  the  Duomo  was  filled  with  cryings  and  curs- 
ings. The  emotions  of  the  people  were  swept  as 
by  a  storm. 

Now  and  then  there  were  fine  flashes  of  pa- 
triotism. Ideals  of  citizenship  were  held  up  which 
are  suggestive  even  now.  Read  the  following  on 
the  responsibility  of  suffrage:  "There  be  many 
that  go  about  the  city  scattering  notices  to  the 
effect  that  this  or  that  man  should  not  be  elected. 
I  tell  you :  never  obey  the  suggestions  of  these  pa- 
pers. If  those  whom  you  would  not  have  elected 
be  bad,  you  may  openly  proclaim  it  in  council,  now 
that  there  is  no  tyrant  to  oppress  you.  Wherefore 
come  forth,  and  say  frankly,  'Such  an  one  is  not 
fit  for  this  office.'  But  if  he  be  a  good  man  let 
him  be  chosen."  The  utter  unselfishness  of  Sa- 
vonarola in  his  heroic  work  for  the  political  refor- 
mation of  Florence,  is  strikingly  brought  out  in 


1 90  GiROivAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

this :  "I  am  told  there  be  some  in  the  council  who, 
when  one  is  about  to  be  balloted,  say  of  him,  'Let 
us  give  him  the  black  bean,  or  the  white  bean,  be- 
cause he  is  of  this  or  that  party ;'  and  what  is  worse 
I  am  told,  there  be  many  that  say,  'He  is  one  of  the 
Friar's  men,  let  us  give  him  the  black  beans.'  (The 
black  bean  meant  a  favorable  vote.)  What,  have 
I  taught  you  this?  I  have  no  friend  save  Christ 
and  the  righteous.  Act  no  more  in  this  wise,  for 
this  is  no  purpose  of .  mine,  and  you  would  soon 
cause  dissensions.  Let  electors  give  their  beans  to 
those  they  conscientiously  hold  to  be  good  and  sa- 
gacious men,  as  I  have  frequently  told  you  before." 

It  speaks  volumes  for  the  greatness  and  sub- 
limity of  Savonarola's  character  that,  during  these 
days  when  he  was  lashing  Florence  and  Rome  for 
their  vices  and  their  corruptions,  he  held  himself 
so  utterly  aloof  from  narrow  and  party  spirit.  The 
charges  brought  against  him  by  some  modern  critics 
that  he  lacked  in  magnanimity  and  sought  to  exalt 
his  own  friends  at-  the  expense  of  others,  are  so 
utterly  without  foundation  that  it  is  hardly  worth 
while  even  to  mention  them.  Nor  is  it  worth 
while  to  stop  here  to  answer  the  criticism  that  he 
ought  to  have  interposed  to  save  the  lives  of  Ber- 
nardo del  Nero  and  his  fellow  conspirators,  who 
tried  to  deliver  Florence  into  the  hands  of  the 
tyrant  Piero.  They  were  guilty  of  treason.  What 
could  Savonarola  do?  It  would  be  hard  to  find, 
in  all  the  history  of  heroic  men  placed  in  such  posi- 
tion as  Savonarola  was,  a  finer  example  of  lofty 
ideals  and  unselfish  patriotism. 

Among  the  striking  features  of  this  Lenten  sea- 


THE  BURNING  otf  THE  VANITIES.         191 

son  were  the  great  meetings  for  the  children.  They 
sat  in  temporary  seats  in  the  Duomo.  Now  all  the 
preacher's  words  were  for  them.  They  were  ex- 
horted to  be  diligent  in  their  studies,  to  be  kind 
and  charitable,  to  have  high  ideals,  to  keep  them- 
selves pure,  and  to  fear  God.  Near  the  close  of 
Lent,  elaborate  preparations  were  made  for  an- 
other great  procession.  It  was  to  take  place  on 
Palm  Sunday.  A  tabernacle  was  built  in  the 
Duomo,  and  on  it  was  painted  a  representation  of 
Christ  riding  in  triumph  into  Jerusalem.  This  was 
carried  at  the  head  of  an  immense  procession,  the 
boys  leading,  all  dressed  in  white,  with  olive  wreaths 
on  their  heads  and  red  crosses  or  palm  branches 
in  their  hands.  Following  the  boys  came  the  young 
men,  then  the  older  men,  and  after  them  many 
priests  and  friars.  After  these  followed  the  girls 
and  the  women.  This  procession,  like  the  former 
one,  carried  a  large  offering  of  money  which  had 
been  gathered  up  at  the  street  corners  by  busy  and 
persistent  boys.  The  procession  wound  around  the 
Duomo,  then  to  the  Piazza.  Signoria,  where  not 
many  months  hence  would  be  witnessed  the  black- 
est crime  in  the  history  of  Florence.  From  there 
the  white  line  of  happy  children  moved  slowly 
towards  the  spacious  square  in  front  of  the  church 
and  monastery  of  San  Marco,  where  the  joy  and 
gladness  of  Palm  Sunday  reached  its  climax.  Here 
the  large  offerings  of  coin  were  turned  -over  to  the 
newly  established  Monte  di  Pieta,  a  sort  of  public 
pawnshop,  recently  organized  by  Savonarola  as  a 
savings-bank  and  money  loaning  institution  for  the 
poor.  This  was  one  of  the  means  adopted  by  the 


192  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

reform  preacher  to  drive  out  from  Florence  the 
usurers,  chiefly  Jewish  money-lenders,  who  were 
sapping  the  life  blood  of  the  city. 

It  is  hardly  too  extravagant  to  say  that  in  all 
the  history  of  preaching  it  would  be  difficult  to 
find  an  instance  where  the  immediate  effects  of  a 
series  of  sermons  were  so  great.  Count  over  your 
great  preachers  and  study  again  the  effect  of  their 
sermons  upon  an  audience  and  upon  a  city,  and 
when  you  are  done  Savonarola  will  stand  out 
greater  and  grander  than  before.  Like  a  true  war- 
rior of  God  and  prophet  of  God,  he  fought  and 
prophesied  against  tyranny,  against  corruption  in 
high  places,  against  every  evil  of  the  time  which 
hindered  men  from  being  the  great  free  beings 
God  intended  them  to  be.  "What  will  be  the  end 
of  this  war  thou  art  carrying  on?"  he  soliloquized 
one  day  in  the  pulpit.  "If  thou  wouldst  know  the 
general  result,  I  tell  thee  it  will  end  in  victory; 
but  if  thou  wouldst  know  what  will  be  its  result  as 
regards  myself  in  particular,  I  tell  thee  it  will  end 
in  death  and  in  being  cut  to  pieces.  Rest  assured, 
however,  that  all  this  will  serve  to  spread  abroad 
this  doctrine,  the  which  proceedeth  not  from  me, 
but  from  God.  I  am  but  a  tool  in  His  hands; 
wherefore  I  am  resolved  to  fight  to  the  death." 
The  offer  of  a  cardinal's  hat  had  not  softened  Sa- 
vonarola's tone  or  modified  his  teachings  and  warn- 
ings. Alexander  VI  was  discovering,  as  Lorenzo 
the  Magnificent  had  discovered  two  years  before, 
that  here  was  a  preacher  who  could  not  be  bought. 
He  would  have  no  red  hat  but  one  made  red  by  his 
own  blood,  the  martyr's  hat. 

Now  it  was  that  the  great  preacher  of  Florence 


THE  BURNING  OF  THE  VANITIES.         193 

began  to  be  the  subject  of  frequent  discussions  in 
circles  outside  the  limits  of  Italy.  His  published 
sermons  were  read  in  France,  in  Germany,  and  in 
England.  Even  the  sultan  had  some  of  them  trans- 
lated that  he  might  read  them.  Enemies  as  well  as 
friends  joined  to  make  his  name  widely  known. 
The  most  extravagant,  and,  in  some  instances,  scur- 
rilous, misrepresentations  were  published  in  letters 
and  in  pamphlets.  Doggerel,  too,  was  used  to  make 
ridiculous  his  utterances  and  bring  his  work  into 
disrepute.  Do  not  let  it  be  supposed  that  all  this 
went  unchallenged.  Piagnoni  stoutly,  and  at  times 
nobly,  defended  the  character  and  teachings  of  their 
great  leader.  Perhaps  they  were  not  always  wise, 
but  their  heart  was  right,  and  they  stand  out  in 
striking  contrast  with  the  Arrabbiati. 

The  battle  to  the  death  was  on.  It  was  only  a 
question  of  time.  A  consistory  of  fourteen  Domin- 
ican theologians  was  asked  by  the  pope  to  care- 
fully look  into  the  conduct  and  teachings  of  the 
troublesome  preacher.  By  far  the  most  serious 
charge  made  against  him,  was  that  he  was  the  cause 
of  all  the  misfortunes  of  Piero  de'  Medici.  To  the 
papal  court  this  was  serious.  The  Republic  of 
Florence  did  not  look  at  it  that  way.  It  counted  in 
his  favor  that  he  had  stood  against  Piero.  Soon 
after  Easter  Savonarola  went  to  Prato,  where  his 
preaching  was  the  one  topic  of  conversation. 
Learned  professors  of  the  university  of  Pisa,  now 
temporarily  located  at  Prato,  and  humble  peasants, 
all  heard  him  with  equal  interest.  "The  land  of 
Prato,"  says  one  of  the  chroniclers,  "seemed 
turned  into  a  church." 

13 


194  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

Two  books  published  about  this  time  added 
greatly  to  Savonarola's  strength  and  influence. 
One  was  "On  the  Simplicity  of  the  Christian  Life," 
the  other  was  an  "Exposition  of  the  Seventy-ninth 
Psalm."  These  publications  were  quite  different 
in  character.  In  the  first,  Savonarola  describes 
what  he  considers  the  essentials  in  Christian  life 
and  character.  In  the  second,  the  most  striking 
feature  is  the  fearful  arraignment  of  the  priest- 
hood. "It  is  the  general  practice,"  he  says,  "to 
be  one  day  in  the  theater,  and  the  next  in  the 
Episcopal  chair;  to  be  in  the  theater  to-day,  and 
to-morrow  a  canon  in  the  choir;  to-day  a  soldier, 
and  to-morrow  a  priest." 

In  May  he  returned  to  the  pulpit  with  the  noble 
utterance,  "I  am  here  in  obedience  to  Him  who  is 
the  Prelate  of  prelates  and  the  Pope  of  popes." 
Later  he  was  invited  by  the  Signory  to  speak  in 
the  hall  of  the  Great  Council  before  the  magis- 
trates and  leading  citizens.  Never  did  he  use  more 
even-tempered  words  than  on  this  occasion.  "The 
clergy,"  said  he,  "wrongfully  complain  of  me.  If 
I  have  attacked  vice,  I  have  attacked  no  individual 
in  particular.  But  still  greater  wrong  is  done  me 
by  the  citizens,  who  go  about  crying  that  I  meddle 
in  all  the  business  of  the  State.  I  have  never  in- 
tervened in  your  affairs;  both  in  public  and  in  pri- 
vate I  have  said,  and  now  repeat  in  this  place,  that 
such  is  not  my  office ;  and  even  did  I  seek  to  inter- 
fere in  those  things,  no  one  ought  to  give  ear  to 
me.  What  if  I  have  suggested  good  laws  for  the 
well-being  of  the  people  and  their  liberty?  What 
if  I  have  checked  discord  and  pacified  men's  minds  ? 


THE  BURNING  OF  THE  VANITIES.         195 

All  that  hath  been  to  the  glory  of  God;  and  those 
men  would  stone  me  for  a  good  work.  They  go 
about  crying,  'The  friar  would  have  money,  the 
friar  hath  secret  intelligence,  the  friar  would  play 
the  tyrant,  the  friar  would  have  a  cardinal's  hat.' 
I  tell  you  that  had  I  desired  such  things,  I  should 
not  be  wearing  a  tattered  robe  at  this  hour." 

There  were  months  now  when  Florence  saw 
many  dark  days.  There  were  intrigues  for  the  re- 
turn of  Piero,  and  Maximilian  had  come  to  take 
the  iron  crown  of  the  empire  and  arbitrate  or  pos- 
sess in  Italy.  The  pope's  army  was  approaching, 
and  the  war  with  Pisa  was  not  going  on  well.  A 
heavy  blow  fell  in  the  death  of  one  of  the  city's 
greatest  men,  Piero  Capponi;  he  was  killed  in  bat- 
tle by  a  shot  from  a  Pisan  gun.  Then  famine  came 
and  the  plague.  The  magistrates  were  alarmed 
for  their  city.  They  needed  some  voice  to  inspire 
hope  and  confidence.  The  one  voice  with  such 
power  was  Savonarola's.  At  the  command  of  the 
Signory  he  spoke.  "Listen  to  my  words!"  and  as 
he  began  to  speak  his  old  enthusiasm  began  to 
kindle,  "I  am  willing  to  forfeit  my  robe  if  we 
do  not  drive  away  our  enemies."  Two  days  later, 
and  a  foaming  charger  galloped  through  the  San 
Frediano  Gate,  to  tell  Florence  that  her  ships  of 
supplies  were  safely  anchored  in  the  harbor  at  Leg- 
horn. The  famine  was  ended  and  the  power  of 
the  plague  soon  broken.  The  preacher  might  now 
continue  to  speak  in  spite  of  papal  briefs.  Once 
more  the  city  sounded  Savonarola's  praises.  Once 
more  he  was  the  deliverer  of  Florence.  Once  more 
the  people  declared  him  to  be  God's  true  prophet. 


196  GlROIyAMO   SAVON AROI/A. 

The  opportunity  which  now  came  to  the 
preacher  was  not  allowed  to  go  by  unimproved. 
Reminding  the  people  of  recent  reverses  and  sore 
afflictions  and  how  they  had  been  delivered,  he 
earnestly  exhorted  them  to  thanksgiving  to  God. 
With  new  fervor  he  held  up  high  ideals  of  gov- 
ernment, challenged  the  people  to  political  virtue 
and  civic  honesty,  and  urged  them  to  hold  inviolate 
their  new  liberties.  Savonarola  seems  to  have 
clearly  understood  that  there  was  no  permanent 
safety  for  the  new  Republic  apart  from  the  virtue 
and  intelligence  of  its  citizens.  He  constantly  pleaded 
for  unselfish  action  and  the  common  good.  His 
one  great  demand  of  the  civil  authorities  was  that 
they  regard  justice.  He  was  forever  warning 
against  the  tricks  and  rascalities  of  politicians. 
Justice  was  what  he  wanted.  "Do  justice,  there- 
fore, magnificent  Signory;  justice,  Signory  of 
Eight;  justice,  magistrates  of  Florence;  justice,  men 
and  women;  let  all  cry  for  justice!" 

The  Piagnoni  were,  for  the  time,  the  absolute 
masters  of  Florence.  Savonarola's  "heavenly  des- 
potism" was  almost  universally  recognized  in  the 
city.  But  the  might  of  Rome  was  filling  the  south- 
ern horizon,  and,  under  the  surface,  there  were 
plots  and  intrigues  in  Florence.  Some  were  •  se- 
cretly whispering  that  the  friar  was  expecting  too 
much  of  weak  humanity,  and  demanding  more  of 
the  city  than  it  could  do;  he  was  too  much  of  a 
rigorist.  Danger  lurked  on  all  sides  and  Savon- 
arola knew  it.  He  might  have  trimmed  a  little 
just  now.  Ah,  but  he  could  not  do  that.  His  fine 
Christian  idealism  and  powerful  will,  ever  held 


THE  BURNING  OF  THE  VANITIES.         197 

him  to  the  high  standard  of  Christian  virtue  and 
political  freedom  he  had  so  long  proclaimed  from 
the  Duomo  pulpit.  Any  but  a  true  man  would  have 
lowered  his  standard. 

Outwitted  in  the  previous  carnival,  the  Arrab- 
biati  began  early  to  make  plans  to  have  the  carnival 
of  1497  all  their  own  way.  The  revelries,  the 
orgies,  and  all  Medicean  extravagances  were  to 
be  revived  and  new  features  added.  Never  was  a 
more  vigorous  and  determined  effort  made  to  cru- 
cify virtue  and  enthrone  vice.  Driven  to  the  limits 
of  madness,  the  Arrabbiati  were  determined  to 
break  utterly  the  influence  of  the  Piagnoni  and  put 
a  stop  to  the  sway  of  the  "twist  necks"  and  "prayer 
mumblers."  But  Savonarola  and  his  faithful  Fra 
Domenico  were  not  caught  napping.  The  boys  of 
the  city  were  early  organized  to  repeat  what  they 
had  done  in  preparation  for  the  carnival  of  the  year 
before.  The  altars  were  set  up,  the  lauds  were 
sung,  and  a  decidedly  new  feature  was  added  which 
greatly  increased  the  enthusiasm  of  the  boys.  They 
were  instructed  to  go  about  the  city  and  appeal 
everywhere  for  what  they  were  to  call  Vanities.  They 
asked  for  old-time  carnival  masks  and  costumes,  for 
indecent  books  and  pictures ;  they  went  from  house 
to  house  making  their  appeal,  and  repeating  brief 
prayers,  as  the  vanities  were  placed  in  their  hands. 
When  the  great  and  final  day  of  the  carnival  came, 
all  thoughts  of  revelry  and  orgies  were  forgotten. 
Nothing  was  thought  of  but  the  great  procession 
and  what  was  to  happen  in  the  Piazza. 

Early  in  the  morning  the  people  gathered  in 
large  numbers  in  the  Duomo  to  celebrate  mass.  At 


198  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

a  later  hour  they  came  again.  This  time  for  the 
procession.  All  the  doings  of  the  day  were  to  be 
for  the  glory  of  King  Jesus.  At  the  head  of  the 
procession  was  a  beautiful  figure  of  the  infant 
Christ,  the  Bambino.  Donatello's  chisel  had  made 
it.  What  a  chisel  Donatello  had!  The  people 
looked  upon  the  beautiful  figure  with  delighted 
wonder.  One  of  the  Bambino's  hands  was  point- 
ing to  the  cross,  the  other  was  raised  in  benedic- 
tion. Close  behind  the  image  followed  the  boys, 
some  thousands  of  them,  robed  in  white  and  with 
red  crosses.  All  Florence  was  in  the  procession  or 
watching  it.  The  boys  with  the  alms-boxes  gath- 
ered a  bountiful  harvest  for  the  Good  Men  of  St. 
Martin.  The  day  reached  its  climax  of  enthusiasm 
in  the  spacious  Piazza,  in  front  of  the  Palazzo  Vec- 
chio.  There  an  imposing  pyramid  had  been  built 
up.  Its  circumference  at  the  base  measured  two 
hundred  and  forty  feet,  and  its  height  sixty  feet. 
Seven  great  tiers  measured  the  distance  between 
base  and  summit,  each  tier  standing  for  a  mortal 
sin.  There  on  the  tiers  and  well  classified,  if  we 
may  accept  Benivieni's  statement,  were  the  vanities. 
Gambling  devices  of  all  sorts  were  there,  musical 
instruments  which  had  been  used  in  the  revelries 
of  former  carnivals,  lascivious  books  both  in  Latin 
and  Italian,  indecent  pictures  and  pieces  of  sculp- 
ture, women's  dresses  with  immodest  figures  on 
them,  and  gay  and  fantastic  carnival  trappings  of 
all  sorts.  The  apex  of  the  pyramid  was 
crowned  with  a  personification  of  old  King 
Carnival.  It  was  a  spectacular  scene !  The 
pyramid  in  the  center  of  the  Piazza!  The  white- 


THE  BURNING  OF  THE  VANITIES.          199 

robed  children  arranged  in  front  of  the  old  Palace 
and  the  Loggia  dei  Lanzi!  Singing  their  lauds 
and  hymns  in  honor  of  King  Jesus,  they  cried  out 
their  childish  invectives  against  the  carnival,  and 
shouted  with  fine  enthusiasm,  "Viva  Gesu  Christo, 
nostro  Re!"  At  a  given  signal  torches  lighted  the 
pyramid  at  the  four  corners,  and  the  mighty  pile 
blazed  and  flamed  in  mad  fury!  The  children 
shouted  louder  than  ever!  The  trumpeters  of  the 
Signory  sounded  their  trumpets ;  the  bells  from  the 
Palace  tower  pealed  forth  notes  of  triumph,  and  all 
the  people  in  the  Piazza,  shouted  with  the  children, 
shouted  as  they  had  never  shouted  before,  "Long 
live  Jesus  Christ,  King  of  Florence."  So  ended 
the  carnival  of  1497. 

Did  Savonarola  do  wisely  in  this?  We  should 
hardly  praise  the  preacher-reformer  who  would  at- 
tempt such  a  bonfire  in  New  York  or  Chicago.  But 
Savonarola  lived  in  a  different  age  and  under  the 
sunny  skies  of  Italy.  George  Eliot  in  her  Romola 
seems  to  see  possible  reason  in  it  all.  "Had  there 
been  bonfires  in  the  olden  times?  There  was  to 
be  a  bonfire  now,  consuming  impurity  from  off  the 
earth.  Had  there  been  symbolic'  processions? 
There  were  to  be  processions  now,  but  the  symbols 
were  to  be  white  robes,  and  red  crosses,  and  olive 
wreaths — emblems  of  peace  and  innocent  gladness — 
and  banners  and  images  held  aloft  were  to  tell  of 
the  triumphs  of  goodness.  ...  As  for  the  collec- 
tions from  street  passengers,  they  were  to  be 
greater  than  ever — not  for  carousing  and  super- 
fluous suppers,  but  for  the  benefit  of  the  hungry  and 
needy."  Whatever  we  sober  people  of  the  North, 


200  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

and  of  the  twentieth  century,  may  think  of  what 
happened,  there  is  no  doubt  but  that  Savonarola 
thought  he  was  doing  God's  service.  Nor  is 
there  any  doubt  that  the  vast  majority  of  the  cit- 
izens saw  in  the  proceedings  of  the  day,  the  ar- 
raignment and  destruction  of  vice  and  the  corona- 
tion of  virtue. 

One  of  the  most  beautiful  illustrations  of  the 
impression  made  is  to  be  found  in  the  diary  of  a 
contemporary,  Luca  Landucci.  In  describing  the 
apostolate  of  the  children  in  gathering  up  the  van- 
ities, Landucci  writes,  "The  children  had  received 
such  encouragement  from  Fra  Girolamo  to  reprove 
unbecoming  modes  of  dress  and  the  vice  of  gam- 
bling, that  when  the  people  said,  'Here  come  the 
prior's  children,'  every  gambler,  however  bold  he 
might  be,  would  take  himself  off,  and  women  at- 
tired and  conducted  themselves  with  all  modesty. 
The  children  were  held  in  such  reverence  that  every 
one  abstained  from  scandalous  vice.  Not  a  word 
on  such  matters  was  to  be  heard  from  young  or 
old  during  the  holy  time;  but  it  was  short.  The 
wicked  have  proved  more  powerful  than  the  good. 
Brief  as  it  was,  may  God  be  praised  that  I  saw  that 
holy  time;  and  I  pray  that  He  may  give  us  back 
once  more  that  holy  and  chaste  mode  of  life.  That 
this  was  indeed  a  blessed  time  any  one  may  judge 
who  will  consider  the  things  which  then  were  done." 
In  closing  the  description  Landucci  says,  "I  have 
written  these  things  because  they  are  true,  and  I 
have  seen  them,  and  have  experienced  in  them  some 
consolation,  and  children  of  my  own  were  among 
those  blessed  and  modest  bands."  Many  of  the 


THE  BURNING  OF  THE  VANITIES.         201 

writings  of  the  time  go  to  show  that  in  the  thought 
of  the  vast  majority  of  the  people  the  boys  out  in 
groups  doing  what  Savonarola  had  commanded 
them,  were  indeed  "blessed  and  modest  bands." 
There  were  large  numbers  who  saw  in  these  chil- 
dren the  guardian  angels  of  Florence. 

Much  has  been  said  in  these  later  days  of  the 
excesses  and  extravagances  connected  with  the 
burning  of  the  vanities,  and  Savonarola  has  been 
branded  as  an  iconoclast,  a  hater  of  art,  a  narrow- 
minded  bigot,  and  a  rigorist  of  altogether  too  pro- 
nounced a  type.  The  charge  that  he  was  a  hater 
of  art,  followed  extravagant  reports  concerning  the 
value  of  the  art  treasures  actually  destroyed.  These 
reports  seem  to  have  originated  in  a  statement  of 
Burlamacchi,  that  a  Venetian  merchant  actually 
offered  twenty  thousand  crowns  for  the  vanities 
collected.  In  view  of  some  other  statements  of 
Burlamacchi  who  did  not  seem  to  have  a  genius 
for  figures,  it  is  not  now  thought  that  any  such* 
offer  could  have  been  made.  Some  real  works  of 
art  were  burned.  At  least  one  volume  of  Boccacio 
went  up  in  smoke.  There  are  intelligent  and  widely 
traveled  people  still  living  who  will  never  shed  any 
tears  over  it  either.  But  granting  that  some  val- 
uable books  were  burned,  and  some  real  works  of 
art,  they  constituted  only  a  very  small  part  of  what 
was  actually  destroyed.  The  great  and  sole  object 
of  the  bonfire  was  to  suppress  immorality,  to  put  a 
stop  to  the  kind  of  festivities  and  revelings  which 
were  corrupting  the  manners  of  Florence  and  de- 
bauching her  people. 

The   attitude   of   Savonarola  towards   art   and 


202  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

learning  is  too  well  understood  to  make  necessary 
any  elaborate  defense  of  his  conduct  in  this  in- 
stance. In  a  noble  passage  Villari  has  pointed  out 
how  Savonarola  founded  a  school  of  design  in 
San  Marco,  and  how  he  was  continually  surrounded 
by  a  band  of  the  best  artists  of  his  age.  "All  the 
world  knows,"  says  he,  "the  ardent  affection  he 
had  inspired  in  Fra  Bartolemeo,  who  for  four  years 
after  his  master's  death  was  unable  to  resume  the 
brush.  All  the  della  Robbia  were  devoted  to  Sa- 
vonarola, two  of  them  received  the  monastic  robe 
from  his  hands,  and  the  family  long  preserved  a 
traditional  reverence  for  his  name.  Concerning 
Lorenzo  di  Credi,  Vasari  tells  us  that  'he  was  a 
partisan  of  Fra  Girolamo's  sect,'  and  relates  of 
Cronaca,  that  'he  had  conceived  so  great  a  frenzy 
for  Savonarola's  teachings,  that  he  could  talk  of 
nothing  else ;'  and  he  says  the  same  of  Sandro 
Botticelli,  whom  he  numbers  among  those  who 
illustrated  the  prior's  works  with  beautiful  engrav- 
ings. But  it  is  enough  to  mention  the  name  of 
Michael  Angelo  Buonarotti,  known  to  be  one  of  his 
most  constant  hearers,  and  who,  in  his  old  age 
constantly  read  and  re-read  the  prior's  sermons, 
and  never  forgot  the  potent  charm  of  that  orator's 
gestures  and  pose."  If  added  argument  be  needed 
it  may  be  found  in  the  fact  that  at  this  very  time 
Savonarola  gave  the  credit  of  the  monastery  of 
San  Marco  and  its  remaining  property,  to  the  pur- 
chase of  the  celebrated  Medicean  library,  when  the 
credit  of  the  city  was  utterly  exhausted,  thus  pre- 
serving to  letters  and  art  the  fine  collection  of 
Greek  and  Latin  codices,  and  the  almost  unrivaled 


THE  BURNING  op  THE  VANITIES.          203 

treasure  of  miniatures,  still  preserved  in  the  Lau- 
rentian  library. 

If  there  were  space  it  would  be  interesting  to 
describe  here  Savonarola's  ideas  of  the  beautiful. 
In  a  little  work  on  the  "Division  and  utility  of  all 
the  Sciences,"  he  devotes  one  entire  portion  to  "An 
apology  for  the  art  of  Poetry."  He  condemned, 
and  in  scathing  terms,  the  "false  race  of  pretended 
poets"  who  did  nothing  but  run  after  the  Greeks 
and  Romans,  repeating  their  ideas,  copying  their 
style  and  their  meter,  and  even  invoking  the  same 
deities.  In  an  age  when  the  vigorous  and  noble 
poetry  of  Dante  was  neglected  and  almost  despised 
in  the  general  craving  for  and  delight  in  obscen- 
ities, the  invective  with  which  he  smites  "the  false 
race  of  pretended  poets"  is  hardly  to  be  wondered 
at.  Savonarola  was  a  lover  of  the  beautiful  and  a 
friend  of  art.  No  one  can  read  his  writings  and 
come  to  any  other  conclusion.  But  he  despised  the 
art  which  encourages  vice. 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

THE  POPE  ISSUES  EDICT  OF 
EXCOMMUNICATION. 

IT  is  now  time  to  turn  to  Alexander  VI  and 
study  the  methods  by  which  he  proceeded  to  silence 
the  offensive  preacher.  He  began  with  a  nice  bit 
of  diplomacy.  It  was  nothing  less  than  a  secret 
offer,  that  if  the  Florentines  would  break  with 
France  (he  meant  break  with  Savonarola)  and  join 
the  Holy, League,  he  would  guarantee  that  Pisa 
should  be  returned  to  them.  The  Ten  immediately 
sent  a  special  envoy  to  Rome  to  confer  with  the 
pope  and  report.  After  the  conference  the  envoy 
reported  that  the  holy  father  was  much  displeased 
over  what  the  French  had  done.  "May  God  par- 
don the  "author  of  that  expedition,"  this  the  pope 
said  to  the  envoy,  "which  has  been  the  cause  of 
all  the  woes  of  Italy,  as  your  State,  having  been 
dismembered  by  the  loss  of  Pisa,  must  be  well 
aware.  It  would  be  worse  still  if  the  French  came 
again.  Wherefore,  we  are  using  our  best  efforts, 
as  our  Lord  God  knows,  to  weld  the  whole  of 
Italy  into  one  body.  To  effect  this  we  count  chiefly 
on  your  sagacious  wits.  After  great  difficulty  we 
have  induced  the  league  to  bestow  Pisa  on  you, 
but  only  on  condition  that  you  join  with  us,  and 
act  as  good  Italians,  by  leaving  the  French  in 
France.  For  this  we  must  have  stronger  guarantee 
204 


EDICT  ox  EXCOMMUNICATION.  205 

than  mere  words."  Making  reply,  the  envoy  as- 
sured the  pope  that  the  word  of  Florence  was  as 
good  as  their  writing,  and  that  notwithstanding 
their  alliance  with  the  French,  they  were  neverthe- 
less good  and  true  Italians,  and  regarded  the  inter- 
ests of  their  country.  At  this  point  he  was  inter- 
rupted by  the  pope  who  roughly  exclaimed:  "Mr. 
Secretary,  you  are  as  fat  as  ourself,  but  pardon 
me,  you  have  come  on  a  lean  mission,  and  if  you 
have  naught  else  to  say  to  me  you  may  go  back  at 
once  to  your  post."  After  adding  that  the  Flor- 
entines would  be  driven  by  force  to  what  they 
would  not  do  of  their  own  accord,  and  would  re- 
pent when  it  was  too  late,  he  lost  all  self-control 
and  cried:  "We  well  know  that  all  this  comes  of 
your  faith  in  the  prophecies  of  that  parable-monger 
of  yours,  and  allowing  him  to  lacerate  us,  insult 
us,  threaten  us,  and  trample  upon  us,  who  though 
unworthy,  now  occupy  the  chair  of  St.  Peter."  It 
was  all  in  vain  that  the  envoy  tried  to  explain  that 
the  pope  had  evidently  been  misinformed  and  that 
Savonarola  was  actually  a  good  and  honest  man. 
"He  continued,"  so  runs  the  tale  of  Gherardi,  "to 
ride  the  high  horse,  declaring  that  the  league  would 
do  this  and  say  that."  In  reporting  the  matter  to 
Florence,  the  envoy  closed  by  saying,  "The  rage 
against  Savonarola  is  increasing  on  all  sides  in 
Rome,  so  that  it  is  no  more  possible  to  say  a  word 
in  his  defense.  And  we  must  be  on  our  guard 
against  the  intrigues  of  Piero  de'  Medici,  who  will 
certainly  profit  by  the  present  serious  aspect  of 
affairs,  which  is  decidedly  favorable  to  him." 

The   warning  against   the   intrigues   of   Piero 


206  GiROivAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

came  none  too  soon.  The  party  of  the  Medici  in 
Florence  saw  an  opportunity  for  coming  into  power, 
and  secured  the  election  of  Bernardo  del  Nero  as 
Gonfaloniere.  This  great  and  unexpected  victory 
was  made  possible  through  the  violent  struggle 
which  had  been  going  on  between  the  Arrabbiati 
and  the  Piagnoni.  The  news  of  the  election  was 
not  long  in  getting  to  Piero,  who,  after  the  failure 
of  the  expedition  of  the  previous  year,  had  gone 
to  Rome  apparently  a  ruined  man,  hopeless  and 
almost  penniless.  Utterly  discouraged  he  gave  him- 
self over  to  a  life  of  debauch.  He  consumed  his 
time  and  strength  in  gluttony,  gambling,  lewdness, 
and  every  description  of  unnatural  vice.  But  the 
possibility  of  again  coming  into  power  roused  him 
in  the  midst  of  his  debaucheries,  and  he  imme- 
diately hastened  to  collect  men  and  arms  to  march 
upon  Florence. 

The  story  of  the  expedition  is  hardly  worth 
telling.  Within  less  than  thirty  days,  Piero  was 
camped  outside  the  gates  of  Florence  with  an 
army  of  one  thousand  three  hundred  men.  When 
the  general  alarm  and  excitement  was  at  its  highest, 
a  representative  of  the  Signory  sent  a  messenger 
to  Savonarola  to  ask  what  the  outcome  would  be. 
The  answer  was,  "O  ye  of  little  faith,  wherefore 
do  you  doubt?  Go  tell  the  Signory  that  Piero  de' 
Medici  will  ride  up  to  the  gates,  and  ride  off  again 
without  obtaining  any  success."  This  is  exactly 
what  happened.  The  adherents  of  the  Medici 
within  Florence  were  so  amazed  at  the  uprising  of 
the  people  against  the  return  of  Piero  that  they  saw 
no  way  but  to  join  with  them  in  defending  the  city 


EDICT  of  EXCOMMUNICATION.  207 

against  the  tyrant.  It  did  not  take  Piero  long  to 
see  that  the  promised  uprising  in  his  favor  was 
not  to  take  place.  He  waited  under  the  walls  of 
Florence  just  one  day,  and  before  sunrise  on  the 
following  day,  he  and  his  army  by  quick  march- 
ing were  safely  beyond  the  Sienese  border.  A  more 
humiliating  expedition  was  never  undertaken. 

Now  that  the  Medici  party  was  repudiated,  the 
Arrabbiati  came  into  power.  The  new  Signory 
was  composed  almost  entirely  of  this  party.  The 
one  aim  of  the  Arrabbiati  was  to  crush  Savonarola 
and  his  "prayer  mumblers."  In  this  they  were  as- 
sured of  the  support  of  Ludovico  of  Milan;  the 
pope,  too,  had  promised  help.  Now  it  was  that 
Dolfo  Spini,  leader  of  the  Compagnacci,  saw  his 
chance.  He  and  his  turbulent  band  devoted  their 
days  and  nights  to  concocting  plans  to  bring  the 
preacher  and  his  Piagnoni  into  disrepute.  Insulting 
placards  were  fastened  on  the  walls  of  San  Marco 
and  the  monks  were  jeered  at  in  the  streets.  The 
services  in  the  church  and  monastery  were  dis- 
turbed, and  a  most  disgraceful  occurrence  took 
place  in  the  Duomo.  It  was  on  Ascension  day.  A 
scheme  had  been  devised  by  the  brutal  Dolfo  Spini 
and  his  ruffians  to  kill  Savonarola  while  preaching. 
The  plan  was  to  blow  up  the  pulpit  with  fireworks 
while  the  sermon  was  going  on.  This  was  finally 
given  up  on  account  of  the  probable  loss  of  life 
among  the  people  assembled  and  the  reaction  which 
might  set  in  against  them  as  the  authors  of  the 
deed.  This  plan  abandoned,  they  proceeded  to  de- 
file the  pulpit.  They  placed  pointed  nails,  lightly 
covered,  on  the  parts  of  the  pulpit  where  they 


2o8  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

would  pierce  the  preacher's  hands  when  he  be- 
came emphatic  in  his  discourse.  They  smeared  the 
steps  of  the  pulpit  with  unmentionable  filth,  and 
over  the  front  of  the  pulpit  they  hung  an  ass's 
hide.  What  they  hoped  for  from  this  was  to  pro- 
voke a  riot. 

The  Piagnoni,  now  constantly  on  the  alert,  dis- 
covered what  had  been  done  and  cleared  away  all 
traces  of  the  defilement  long  before  the  hour  for 
the  sermon.  The  excitement  was  intense.  Many 
went  to  San  Marco  to  beg  Savonarola  not  to  risk 
his  life  by  attempting  to  preach  that  day.  His  re- 
ply was  one  of  noble  indignation.  "No  fear  of 
man  shall  induce  me  to  deprive  the  people  of  their 
sermon  on  the  day  appointed  by  the  Lord  to  His 
disciples  for  going  to  spread  His  doctrine  through- 
out the  world."  The  only  thing  the  friends  of  the 
preacher  could  do  now  was  to  prepare  for  his  de- 
fense in  case  of  disturbance.  This  they  did  in  good 
earnest. 

At  the  hour  for  the  sermon,  Savonarola  entered 
the  pulpit.  The  Compagnacci  were  in  the  congre- 
gation, but  well  back  by  themselves.  Gayly  dressed 
and  perfumed  they  smiled  with  insolent  derision  at 
the  plainly  dressed  Piagnoni,  who  watched  the 
preacher  with  eager  faces  as  he  began  his  sermon. 
The  Compagnacci  were  there  to  scoff  and  disturb. 
The  Piagnoni  were  there  to  pray — and  do  whatever 
else  was  necessary. 

The  subject  of  the  discourse  was  "The  Power  of 
Faith."  After  discussing  faith  in  general  and 
showing  how  it  could  overcome  every  obstacle,  he 
addressed  himself  especially  to  the  faithful,  telling 


EDICT  of  EXCOMMUNICATION.  209 

them  that  they  lost  heart  too  easily  and  were  sad 
when  they  ought  to  rejoice.  In  speaking  to  the 
wicked,  he  prayed  that  God  might  not  be  angry 
with  them,  but  forgive  them  and  convert  them. 
He  warned  them  that  they  were  not  making  war 
on  him,  but  on  the  Lord.  Right  in  the  midst  of 
this  appeal  a  tremendous  crash  was  heard,  the  doors 
were  flung  open,  and  amidst  great  confusion  large 
numbers  of  people  fled  from  the  building.  A  rush 
was  made  for  the  pulpit,  but  devoted  friends  gath- 
ered about  the  preacher,  some  with  arms,  to  de- 
fend him.  They  were  none  too  soon.  Savonarola 
tried  to  go  on  with  the  sermon,  but  finding  it  im- 
possible, he  knelt  in  prayer  and  waited  for  the 
tumult  to  cease.  Later  he  was  escorted  back  to  the 
monastery  by  faithful  and  devoted  friends,  some  of 
whom  brandished  swords,  others  waved  crosses,  and 
all  shouted,  "Long  live  King  Jesus."  The  sermon 
was  finished  in  the  convent  garden,  where  Savon- 
arola encouraged  his  friends  with  the  assurance 
that  his  enemies  would  fall  in  the  pit  they  had  dug 
for  others,  and  that  they  were  undermining  the 
foundations  of  a  wall  that  would  crush  them. 

The  news  of  this  Ascension-day  occurrence 
spread  far  and  near.  No  one  seemed  quite  sure 
whereunto  it  would  lead.  The  Arrabbiati  were 
clearly  coming  into  the  ascendency.  It  was  sig- 
nificant that  no  one  implicated  in  the  disturbance 
in  the  Duomo  was  punished.  Many  of  the  people 
there  present  were  questioned,  but  nothing  was 
done  except  to  forbid  the  preaching  of  all  monks. 
On  the  2Oth  of  May  a  Pratica  was  held  at  which 
it  was  attempted  to  bring  about  the  banishment  of 
M 


2io  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

Savonarola.  This,  it  was  soon  found,  could  not  be 
done.  Even  the  Arrabbiati  realized  that  there  were 
limits  beyond  which  they  could  not  go.  The  peo- 
ple would  not  suffer  the  banishment  of  their  leader. 
The  one  man  who  seemed  perfectly  calm  during 
these  trying  days  was  Savonarola.  Not  deeming 
it  wise  to  attempt  to  preach,  for  fear  of  further 
disturbance,  he  took  up  the  pen  with  the  purpose 
of  expressing  in  type  what  he  could  not  say  by 
word  of  mouth.  "Be  not  troubled,"  he  said  in  an 
open  letter  to  God's  chosen  and  faithful  Christians, 
"but  rather  rejoice  in  persecutions."  He  assured 
his  followers  that  the  present  tribulations,  despite 
the  will  of  those  who  had  provoked  them,  would 
serve  to  diffuse  the  pure  light  of  the  Gospel.  The 
Arrabbiati  seized  every  opportunity  tp  bring  Sa- 
vonarola into  their  power.  They  wrote  frequent 
letters  to  the  pope,  urging  him  that  the  time  had 
come  when  they  could  deliver  his  enemy,  and  their 
enemy,  into  his  hands.  The  Arrabbiati  hoped,  and 
the  Piagnoni  feared,  that  the  edict  of  excommuni- 
cation might  arrive  at  any  moment. 

Two  days  after  the  Pratica  Savonarola,  un- 
doubtedly foreseeing  what  might  come  from  Rome, 
addressed  to  the  pope  a  dignified  but  conciliatory 
letter.  In  it  he  inquired  why  it  was  that  the  holy 
father  had  given  so  ready  an  ear  to  false  charges 
brought  against  him  by  his  enemies,  and  had  re- 
fused to  listen  to  him ;  he  bitterly  complained  of  the 
shameless  language  of  Fra  Mariano,  and  again  de- 
clared his  submission  to  the  authority  of  the  Church. 
He  assured  the  pope  that  he  had  preached  no  doc- 
trine save  that  of  the  fathers,  as  would  speedily 


EDICT  of  EXCOMMUNICATION.  211 

appear  in  a  work  he  was  about  to  publish,  "The 
Triumph  of  the  Cross."  In  concluding  the  letter, 
he  said  that  if  all  human  help  failed  him,  he  would 
put  his  trust  in  God,  and  make  manifest  to  all  the 
world  the  iniquity  of  those  who  might  perhaps  be 
driven  to  repent  the  work  they"  had  in  hand. 

There  is  good  reason  for  believing  that  the  pope 
was  much  impressed  by  the  matter  and  tone  of  this 
letter,  but  it  reached  him  too  late.  Nine  days  be- 
fore he  had  sealed  and  forwarded  the  edict  of  ex- 
communication. It  was  only  by  accident  that  Sa- 
vonarola did  not  receive  it  before  the  date  of  his 
own  letter.  The  pope's  edict  was  intrusted  to  the 
care  of  one  Vittoni  da  Camerino,  who,  after  pro- 
ceeding as  far  as  Siena,  became  alarmed  lest  he 
should  be  torn  in  pieces  by  the  Piagnoni  when  he 
arrived  in  Florence,  delivered  the  edict  over  to 
other  hands  and  returned  to  Rome.  It  was  near 
the  end  of  May  before  the  bad  business  of  carry- 
ing the  edict  from  Rome  to  Florence  had  been 
accomplished. 

The  form  of  the  instrument  may  have  had 
something  to  do  with  the  difficulty  in  getting  it  to 
its  destination.  It  was  not  addressed  in  the  usual 
form,  to  all  the  faithful,  but  to  the  monks  and 
churches  of  certain  monasteries.  This  edict,  which 
marked  the  beginning  of  the  end  for  Savonarola, 
was  as  follows :  "We  have  heard  from  many  per- 
sons worthy  of  belief  that  a  certain  Fra  Girolamo 
Savonarola,  at  this  present  said  to  be  Vicar  of  San 
Marco  in  Florence,  hath  disseminated  pernicious 
doctrines  to  the  scandal  and  great  grief  of  simple 
souls.  We  have  already  commanded  him,  by  his 


2i2  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

vows  of  holy  obedience,  to  suspend  his  sermons, 
and  come  to  us  to  seek  pardon  for  his  errors;  but 
he  refused  to  obey,  and  alleged  various  excuses, 
which  we  too  graciously  accepted,  hoping  to  con- 
vert him  by  our  clemency.  But,  on  the  contrary, 
he  persisted  still  more  in  this  obstinacy;  wherefore 
by  a  second  brief  (/th  of  November,  1496)  we 
commanded  him,  under  pain  of  excommunication, 
to  unite  the  convent  of  San  Marco  to  the  Tusco- 
Roman  congregation  recently  created  by  us.  But 
even  then  he  still  persisted  in  his  stubbornness,  thus 
ipso  facto,  incurring  censure.  Therefore,  we  now' 
command  ye,  on  all  festivals,  and  in  the  presence 
of  the  people  to  declare  the  said  Fra  Girolamo  ex- 
communicate, and  to  be  held  as  such  by  all  men, 
for  his  failure  to  obey  our  apostolic  admonitions 
and  commands.  And,  under  pain  of  the  same  pen- 
alty, all  are  forbidden  to  assist  him,  hold  inter- 
course with  him,  or  approve  him  either  by  word 
or  by  deed,  inasmuch  as  he  is  an  excommunicated 
person,  and  suspected  of  heresy. — Given  in  Rome 
this  1 3th  day  of  May,  1497." 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  one  sin  of  which 
Savonarola  was  guilty  was  disobedience.  He  was 
not  pronounced  a  heretic,  but  only  described  as 
"suspected  of  heresy."  But  he  was  disobedient. 
This  was  the  pope's  charge  against  him.  And 
it  is  worthy  of  remark  just  here  that  modern  Ro- 
man Catholic  writers  agree  in  this,  that  Savon- 
arola's one  crime  was  that  of  disobedience.  For 
the  people  of  Florence,  however,  the  edict  was  an 
edict.  It  was  excommunication.  The  Arrabbiati 
were  jubilant.  They  had  broken  the  power  of 


EDICT  OF  EXCOMMUNICATION.  213 

their  accuser  and  could  now  do  as  they  pleased. 
The  Piagnoni  were  crushed  by  the  sorrow  which 
had  come  upon  them.  Many  of  the  noblest  citizens 
sent  quick  protest  to  Rome.  General  and  special 
envoys  pleaded  the  cause  of  -the  silenced  preacher 
to  the  pope  and  to  the  cardinals.  The  Florentines 
were  given  to  understand  that  the  pope's  hatred 
for  Savonarola  was  because  he  had  kept  Florence 
in  alliance  with  the  French  and  thus  defeated  the 
purpose  to  make  the  Holy  League  all  powerful  in 
Northern  Italy. 

It  was  the  i8th  of  June  before  the  excommuni- 
cation was  finally  published  in  Florence.  More 
than  a  month  had  elapsed  since  it  was  sealed  with 
the  Fisherman's  Seal.  It  was  read  at  last,  with 
elaborate  ceremony  and  great  solemnity,  in  the 
churches  of  Santa  Croce,  Santa  Maria  Novella, 
Santo  Spirito,  the  Annunziata,  and  the  Badia. 
These  were  the  churches  to  which  the  edict  was 
addressed.  It  was  read  by  torch-light,  read  im- 
pressively, and  in  the  presence  of  the  friars.  Small 
bells  were  tolled,  and  at  the  reading  of  the  last 
word  the  torches  were  all  extinguished  and  the 
friars  were  left  in  total  darkness.  The  effect  was 
immediate.  The  insolence  and  ruffianism  of  Dolfo 
Spini  and  his  crowd  now  broke  forth  in  new  de- 
vices of  slander  and  indecency.  Immoral  practices, 
we  are  told,  returned  as  if  by  magic.  The  churches 
were  deserted,  the  taverns  were  filled;  women  re- 
sumed the  immodest  mode  of  dress  and  the  jewels 
they  had  discarded,  and  again  paraded  the  streets 
attired  in  dazzling  luxury.  Scented  gallants  again 
sang  indecent  songs  under  the  windows  of  their 


214  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

mistresses.  In  less  than  a  month  Florence  seemed 
to  have  gone  back  to  the  carnival  days  of  Lorenzo ; 
all  thoughts  of  patriotism  and  freedom  were  for- 
gotten. Such  were  the  first  results  of  the  edict  of 
excommunication. 

But  there  was  a  deep  undercurrent  of  senti- 
ment in  favor  of  Savonarola,  and  a  spirit  of  pa- 
triotism which  bitterly  resented  a  papal  interdict 
with  a  political  motive  back  of  it.  Within  less  than 
ten  days  after  the  proclamation  of  the  edict,  a  new 
Signory  was  elected  favorable  to  the  man  under 
ban.  On  the  5th  of  July  Savonarola  called  a  meet- 
ing of  all  the  leading  citizens  of  Florence  to  ask 
their  advice  as  to  what  ought  to  be  done.  It  seemed 
to  be  almost  the  universal  opinion  of  the  meeting, 
that  the  question  at  issue  was  not  religious  but 
political,  and  that  the  edict  was  a  direct  blow  at 
the  liberties  of  the  people. 

Almost  immediately  after  this  meeting  the  Si- 
gnory forwarded  a  letter  to  the  pope  which  read 
as  follows :  "Most  holy  father,  we  are  deeply  af- 
flicted to  have  incurred  the  ban  of  the  Church,  not 
only  because  of  the  respect  always  entertained  by 
our  Republic  for  the  holy  keys,  but  because  we 
see  that  a  most  innocent  man  ha's  been  wrongfully 
and  maliciously  accused  to  your  holiness.  We  deem 
this  friar  to  be  a  good  and  pious  man,  thoroughly 
versed  in  the  Christian  faith.  He  has  labored  many 
years  for  the  welfare  of  the  people,  and  no  fault 
has  ever  been  detected  either  in  his  life  or  his  doc- 
trine. But  as  virtue  is  never  free  from  the  attacks 
of  envy,  so  there  be  many  of  our  people  who  invert 
the  name  of  honesty,  and  think  to  rise  to  great- 


EDICT  OF  EXCOMMUNICATION.  215 

ness  by  attacking  the  good.  Wherefore,  we  fer- 
vently implore  your  holiness,  in  your  paternal  and 
divine  charity,  to  use  your  own  judgment  in  this 
matter,  and  remove  the  weight  of  your  ban,  not 
only  from  Father  Girolamo  Savonarola,  but  from 
all  those  who  have  incurred  it.  Your  holiness  could 
do  no  better  kindness  to  the  Republic,  especially 
in  this  time  of  pestilence  in  which  bans  are  of  grave 
peril  to  men's  souls."  It  is  clear  from  the  matter 
and  tone  of  this  letter,  that  the  government  of  Flor- 
ence was  determined  to  stand  by  the  preacher.  The 
members  of  this  Signory,  and  all  their  successors 
for  the  remainder  of  the  year,  were  of  one  mind. 
They  were  friendly  to  Savonarola  and  they  were 
determined  to  induce  the  pope  to  withdraw  the 
edict. 

A  curious  thing  happened  just  now.  The  Car- 
dinal of  Siena,  who  afterwards  became  Pope  Pius 
III,  sent  word  to  Savonarola  that  if  five  thousand 
crowns  were  paid  to  a  troublesome  creditor  of  his, 
whom  he  named,  he  would  undertake  the  recall  of 
the  edict.  As  money  could  purchase  almost  any- 
thing in  the  court  of  Alexander,  the  cardinal  would 
probably  have  been  able  to  accomplish  what  he 
promised.  "I  should  deem  myself  far  more  deeply 
banned,"  said  Savonarola,  "were  I  to  accept  abso- 
lution at  such  a  price." 

Close  upon  this  incident  a  tragedy  occurred  in 
Rome,  so  atrocious  that  even  the  Italy  of  the 
fifteenth  century  was  stirred  with  horror.  On  the 
night  of  June  14,  the  pope's  eldest  son,  the  Duke 
of  Candia,  was  killed  by  a  dagger  thrust,  and  his 
body  thrown  into  the  Tiber.  The  murderer  was 


216  GiROivAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

the  duke's  own  brother,  Cesare  Borgia,  Cardinal  of 
Valencia.  Alexander  was  plunged  into  agonies  of 
grief.  One  of  the  dispatches  of  the  Venetian  am- 
bassador declares:  "The  wild  wail  of  the  bereaved 
old  man  in  the  castle  of  St.  Angelo  was  heard  in 
the  streets  around."  For  four  days  he  saw  no 
one,  and  would  neither  eat  nor  drink.  Following 
the  terrible  grief  came  remorse.  Six  cardinals  were 
appointed  to  reform  the  Church.  When  the  news 
of  this  tragedy  and  the  pope's  mourning  reached 
Florence,  Savonarola  immediately  addressed  a  let- 
ter of  condolence  to  the  afflicted  pontiff.  He  urged 
the  power  and  value  of  faith  as  a  source  of  strength 
in  adversity.  He  reminded  the  pope  that  he  him- 
self was  suffering,  suffering  for  the  sake  of  a  work 
for  which  he  desired  help.  Savonarola  protested 
that  he  wrote  in  all  humility,  and  under  the  prompt- 
ings of  charity;  that  he  desired  that  his  Holiness 
might  find  the  consolation  of  God  in  his  tribula- 
tion. 

It  was  an  unusual  thing  that  an  excommunicated 
friar  should  thus  write  to  the  pope  who  had  ex- 
communicated him.  Evidence  is  not  wanting  that 
the  letter  was  received  in  good  part.  But  alas  for 
Savonarola  and  the  commission  intrusted  to  the  six 
cardinals !  The  pope  soon  forgot  his  grief  and  was 
again  mastered  by  his  inordinate  ambition  and  love 
of  display.  He  felt  compelled,  however,  to  move 
cautiously  in  the  case  of  Savonarola,  and  for  sev- 
eral reasons.  The  Signory  was  friendly  to  the 
preacher,  many  influential  persons  had  urged  clem- 
ency in  the  case  of  the  excommunicated  man,  the 
fearful  ravages  of  the  plague  in  Florence  made  it 


EDICT  o$  EXCOMMUNICATION.  217 

impolitic  to  be  too  drastic  in  the  measures  adopted 
to  enforce  the  edict,  and,  besides,  leading  citizens 
of  Florence  had  been  discovered  to  be  implicated 
in  the  plot  for  the  return  of  Piero.  Among  them 
was  the  aged  and  highly  respected  Bernardo  del 
Nero.  Whatever  else  was  brought  to  the  pope's 
attention  bearing  upon  the  case  of  Savonarola,  he 
received  frequent  letters  from  members  of  the  Si- 
gnory.  They  were  persistent  and  determined  in 
their  appeals  for  the  absolution  of  the  great 
preacher.  "It  is  our  desire,"  so  the  Signory  wrote 
to  their  envoy,  "that  you  should  knock  at  every 
door,  shout  aloud  and  make  every  possible  effort, 
and  neither  cease  nor  spare  your  labors,  until  this 
purpose  has  been  achieved." 

The  plague  was  now  on  in  Florence.  Savon- 
arola was  shut  up  in  his  convent  ministering  to 
the  sick,  writing  letters  to  friends,  publishing  small 
tractates,  and  finishing  his  monumental  work  on 
"The  Triumph  of  the  Cross."  This  work,  perhaps 
more  than  any  other  of  his  writings,  completely 
vindicates  him  as  a  preacher  of  sound  doctrine. 
The  primary  object  of  the  book  was  to  show  that 
the  teachings  of  the  Gospel  and  man's  reason  are 
in  entire  accord.  The  method  used  was  new  in  the 
fifteenth  century.  The  treatise  is  divided  into  four 
books.  In  the  first,  the  author  discusses  the  ex- 
istence and  attributes  of  God.  In  the  second,  he 
shows  the  truth  and  excellence  of  the  Christian 
religion  which  he  maintains  is  above  reason,  but 
not  contrary  to  it.  In  the  third,  he  takes  up  such 
great  doctrinal  subjects  as  the  incarnation,  original 
sin,  the  passion  of  Christ,  Christian  morals  and  the 


218  GIROI.AMO  SAVONAROLA. 

sacraments,  and  shows  that  they  can  not  be  ob- 
jected to  from  the  standpoint  of  reason.  In  the 
fourth  and  last  book,  he  confutes  all  other  creeds, 
doctrines  and  religions,  and  proves  them  to  be 
utterly  false  when  compared  with  Christianity.  The 
Christian  religion,  he  concludes,  is  the  one  true  re- 
ligion. The  following  passages  are  selected  from 
the  epilogue:  "Now,  if  Jesus  Christ  has  done  all 
these  things  without  miracles,  it  is  the  greatest  of 
all  miracles;  and  if  He  has  accomplished  them  by 
miracles  this  religion  is  Divine."  "Appointed  by 
God,  preserved  through  so  many  centuries,  main- 
tained in  spite  of  persecution,  sealed  by  the  blood 
of  martyrs;  yes,  that  faith  is  Divine!  If  then,  we 
have  not  lost  all  our  understanding,  we  must  be- 
lieve that  the  faith  of  Jesus  Christ  is  the  true 
faith." 


CHAPTER    XVII. 
THE  STRUGGLE  WITH  ROME  GOES  ON. 

EVENTS  now  crowded  together  in  quick  succes- 
sion. The  pope  demanded,  the  Signory  politely  re- 
fused ;  the  pope  showed  signs  of  relenting ;  the 
Signory  urged  again  the  recall  of  the  edict;  the 
pope  was  furious  with  rage,  the  Signory  confessed 
themselves  his  obedient  subjects.  So  the  struggle 
for  the  body  of  Savonarola  went  on,  and  for  weary 
months. 

The  Arrabbiati  resorted  to  every  method  they 
could  think  of  to  silence  the  voice  which  had  spoken 
out  against  the  scandalous  impurity  of  their  lives 
and  the  base  treachery  of  their  political  schemes. 
The  Piagnoni  kept  on  declaring  the  virtues  and 
achievements  of  their  great  leader,  sent  frequent 
letters  and  petitions  to  friends  in  Rome  to  defeat 
the  black  purposes  of  the  Arrabbiati  and  the  Bigi, 
and  were  ever  on  the  alert  to  discover  the  wicked 
plots  of  enemies  of  the  new  constitution  and  of  the 
new  liberties  of  the  citizens.  Savonarola  was  ever 
calm  and  confident.  Conscious  of  personal  integrity 
and  of  the  truth  of  his  teachings,  believing  that  in 
some  way  the  "spreading  wings"  would  yet  be 
broken  and  the  Church  regenerated,  he  stands  out 
in  a  solitary  grandeur  all  his  own. 

From  May  until  late  December  there  had  been 
six  months  of  silence.  The  voice  of  the  preacher 
219 


220  GlROLAMO   SAVONAROLA. 

had  not  been  heard  in  the  Duomo  or  in  San  Marco. 
During  these  months  the  pen  had  been  Savon- 
arola's only  method  of  defense.  That  this  was  so 
is  perhaps  fortunate  for  the  Reformer's  fame.  It 
was  the  pen,  writing  what  the  voice  could  never 
have  spoken,  which  has  given  us  clear  and  con- 
vincing argument  why  the  edict  of  excommunica- 
tion ought  to  be  regarded  as  invalid,  and  why  it 
was  necessary  for  a  preaching  friar,  conscious  of 
the  truth  of  the  words  he  had  spoken,  to  stand  out, 
and  to  the  death,  against  the  commands  of  a  cor- 
rupt pope  who  had  not  only  bought  the  privilege 
of  sitting  in  St.  Peter's  chair,  but  had  smeared  and 
polluted  all  the  holy  vestments  of  papal  authority. 
In  this  position  he  was  ably  supported  by  the 
learned  Pico  della  Mirandola,  who  maintained  in  a 
forceful  open  letter  that  excommunication  derives 
its  force  from  justice,  and  without  justice  can  take 
no  effect.  It  was  in  these  months,  when  he  was 
under  the  ban  of  Alexander  Borgia,  that  Savon- 
arola built  up  an  enduring  memorial  of  his  inno- 
cence and  fame  in  writing  the  "Triumph  of  the 
Cross." 

The  time  came  when  the  preacher  could  no 
longer  keep  silent.  But  it  was  a  bold  thing  to 
speak  when  the  pope  had  commanded  silence.  How 
could  Savonarola  justify  himself?  In  this  way. 
He  saw  that  immorality  was  increasing,  that  the 
Republic  was  in  danger,  and  that  a  voice  of  warn- 
ing was  needed.  This  was  enough.  On  Christmas- 
day  he  publicly  administered  the  mass  three  times 
in  the  Church  of  San  Marco,  and  then  led  his 
brother  monks  in  solemn  procession  around  the 


STRUGGLE  WITH  ROME  GOES  ON.         221 

Piazza,  in  front  of  the  monastery.  This  courageous 
act  so  impressed  the  Signory  that  they  gave  per- 
mission for  him  to  preach  in  the  Duomo.  In  antici- 
pation of  the  immense  crowd  which  would  come, 
temporary  galleries  were  again  put  up.  The  arch- 
bishop's vicar,  alarmed  at  what  was  about  to  take 
place,  forbade  all  monks  and  priests  from  hearing 
the  sermon,  and  commanded  the  parish  priests  to 
threaten  their  flocks  with  loss  of  all  the  sacraments 
and  unconsecrated  burial  in  case  they  went  to  hear 
the  excommunicated  prior.  The  Signory  made 
short  work  of  this  little  vicar.  They  notified  him 
that  unless  he  withdrew  his  mandates  he  would  be 
proclaimed  a  rebel.  This  only  increased  the  in- 
terest in  the  promised  sermon.  When  Sunday  came 
the  Duomo  was  crowded. 

Who  can  divine  the  feelings  of  Savonarola  as 
he  ascended  once  more  this  throne?  Under  the 
protection  of  the  power  of  the  government  he  was 
there  to  defy  the  power  of  the  Church.  The  eccle- 
siastical arm  had  been  raised  to  strike  him  down. 
The  secular  arm  was  now  raised  in  his  defense. 
The  theme  of  the  sermon  comprised  the  excom- 
munication, the  authority  of  the  pope,  and  the  right 
of  every  honest  conscience  to  resist  unjust  com- 
mands. In  beginning  the  sermon  he  prayed  this 
prayer:  "I  beseech  thee,  O  Lord,  to  let  no  word 
pass  my  lips  that  may  be  opposed  to  the  Holy 
Scriptures  or  the  Church."  Then,  with  words  that 
burned,  he  proceeded  to  defend  his  action  in  defy- 
ing the  edict  of  excommunication.  "The  righteous 
prince  or  the  good  priest,"  said  he,  "is  merely  an 
instrument  in  the  Lord's  hands  for  the  government 


222  GiROivAMO  SAVONAROLA. 


of  the  people.  But  when  the  higher  Agency  is 
withdrawn  from  prince  or  priest  he  is  no  longer 
an  instrument,  but  a  broken  tool."  In  attempting 
to  show  how  it  may  be  determined  whether  the 
higher  Agency  be  present  or  absent,  he  maintained 
that  if  the  laws  and  commands  be  contrary  to  that 
which  is  the  root  and  principle  of  all  wisdom, 
namely,  of  Godly  living  and  charity,  it  may  be 
taken  for  granted  that  the  prince  or  priest  is  a 
"broken  tool,"  and  that  men  are  in  no  wise  bound 
to  obey  him.  This  test  he  applied  to  the  edict  of 
excommunication  and  showed  how  it  opened  the 
way  for  the  return  of  drunkenness,  profligacy,  and 
every  other  crime;  and  how  righteous  living  had 
been  struck  down.  "Therefore  on  him  that  giveth 
commands  opposed  to  charity,  which  is  the  plenti- 
tude  of  our  law,  anathema  sit.  Were  such  com- 
mand pronounced  by  an  angel,  even  by  the  Virgin 
Mary  herself  and  all  the  saints  (the  which  is  cer- 
tainly impossible),  anathema  sit.  If  pronounced 
by  any  law,  or  canon,  or  command,  anathema  sit. 
And  if  any  pope  hath  ever  spoken  to  a  contrary 
effect  from  this,  let  him  be  declared  excommuni- 
cate. I  say  not  that  such  pope  hath  ever  existed; 
but  if  he  hath  existed  he  can  have  been  no  instru- 
ment of  the  Lord,  but  a  broken  tool."  In  closing 
the  sermon  Savonarola  said  that,  if  necessary,  his 
work  would  be  attended  by  some  open  and  mighty 
miracle. 

On  the  two  following  Sundays  he  continued  the 
discussion.  Openly  and  defiantly  he  now  stood 
squarely  against  the  pope  and  defied  his  edict.  He 
still  believed  in  ecclesiastical  authority,  but  -he 


STRUGGLE;  WITH  ROME  GOES  ON.         223 

rebelled  against  the  unworthy  exercise  of  ecclesi- 
astical authority  by  a  man  notoriously  bad  in  char- 
acter and  bad  in  purpose.  The  godless  decrees  of 
a  godless  pope  no  true  believer  was  bound  to  re- 
spect. So  he  maintained.  The  position  of  Savon- 
arola at  this  point  was  thoroughly  Protestant.  The 
Catholic  view  of  the  case  is  different.  It  has  been 
well  put  by  Dr.  Pastor,  who  says,  "According  to 
the  teaching  of  the  Church,  an  evil  life  can  not 
deprive  the  pope  or  any  other  ecclesiastical  au- 
thority of  his  lawful  jurisdiction."  This  same 
author  maintains  that  Savonarola  "was  bound  to 
obey  the  Holy  See,  however  it  might  be  desecrated 
by  such  an  occupant  as  Alexander  VI." 

The  interest  in  these  sermons  can  hardly  be 
imagined,  much  less  described.  There  was  some- 
thing almost  tragic  about  it.  The  multitudes  in  the 
Duomo  were  in  sympathy  with  the  preacher,  be- 
cause they  believed  in  him,  and  gloried  in  what  he 
had  done  for  Florence ;  but  to  break  with  the  pope, 
to  defy  the  great  head  of  the  Church — this  they 
were  hardly  ready  for.  There  was  something  about 
it  they  could  not  quite  understand.  They  experi- 
enced a  sense  of  uneasiness  and  were  in  doubt. 
Savonarola  himself  could  not  fail  to  see  that  with 
all  the  enthusiasm  of  the  great  crowds,  he  failed 
to  receive  just  that  hearty  support  and  absolute 
loyalty  which  had  heretofore  been  given  so  un- 
grudgingly. 

In  the  closing  sermon  of  this  series  Savonarola 
announced  to  an  audience  which  could  hardly  be- 
lieve their  ears  when  they  heard  him,  that"  on  the 
last  day  of  the  carnival,  after  saying  mass  in  the 


224  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROI/A. 

Church  of  San  Marco,  he  would  go  out  in  front 
of  the  monastery  and  there  make  a  challenge  to 
heaven,  which  would  prove  the  truth  and  sincerity 
of  his  course  of  action.  "When  I  shall  take  the 
sacrament  in  my  hands,"  the  audience  listened 
breathlessly  as  he  spoke,  "let  every  one  earnestly 
pray  that  if  this  work  proceeds  not  from  the  Lord, 
He  may  send  upon  me  fire  from  heaven  which  shall 
then  and  there  draw  me  down  to  hell."  The  news 
of  the  proposed  challenge  spread  like  wild-fire 
throughout  the  city  and  when  the  day  came  the 
Piazza  of  San  Marco  was  crowded.  Standing  room 
in  every  part  of  the  Piazza,  and  in  the  streets  lead- 
ing into  it,  was  at  a  premium.  The  surrounding 
buildings  were  crowded.  All  eyes  were  turned 
toward  the  wooden  pulpit  which  had  been  set  up 
on  a  raised  platform  just  out  from  the  door  of  the 
monastery.  Friars  were  gathered  about  the  plat- 
form chanting  their  Psalms. 

George  Eliot  in  her  Romola  has  wonderfully 
described  this  scene.  Savonarola,  as  though  com- 
ing into  the  holy  place  of  God's  presence,  ascended 
the  pulpit  and  bowed  in  prayer,  then  solemnly  ad- 
dressed the  audience,  calling  upon  them  to  join  in 
the  prayer  he  had  asked  them  to  offer.  Holding 
aloft  the  consecrated  host,  his  clear  voice  rang  out 
in  this  startling  challenge  to  the  Almighty.  "O 
Lord,  if  my  deeds  be  not  sincere,  if  my  words  come 
not  from  Thee,  strike  me  in  this  moment  with  Thy 
thunder !"  The  people  waited ;  dazed,  breathless, 
expectant !  But  no  flash  came  from  out  the  heavens. 
No  thunder  was  heard.  The  beam  of  light,  which 
George  Eliot  makes  so  much  of,  was  undoubtedly 


STRUGGLE  WITH  ROME;  GOES  ON.         325 

the  Divine  ecstacy  which  the  people  saw  in  the 
preacher's  face  as  he  turned  to  go  back  to  the 
monastery.  This  was  the  greatest  triumph,  so  it 
seemed  to  those  who  were  there  present,  in  all  the 
public  life  of  Savonarola.  It  does  not  seem  so  to 
us.  He  showed  here  as  he  showed  later,  in  the 
ordeal  of  fire,  how  difficult  k  is  for  a  truly  great 
man  to  altogether  break  away  from  the  age  in 
which  he  lives. 

On  the  afternoon  of  this  day  there  was  another 
great  carnival  procession  and  another  burning  of 
vanities,  the  pyramid  higher  and  more  imposing 
than  before.  The  outward  triumph  of  this  last 
carnival  which  Savonarola  ever  saw,  was  certainly 
all  that  he  and  the  Piagnoni  could  have  wished. 
True,  the  Compagnacci  were  insulting  and  did 
everything  they  could  to  interrupt  the  procession. 
But  the  Piagnoni  had  their  way,  and  the  program 
they  had  arranged  was  carried  out  in  every  par- 
ticular. 

The  sermons  which  Savonarola  preached  in  the 
Duomo  while  under  excommunication  were  all 
printed  and  immediately  distributed  in  Florence 
and  throughout  Italy.  They  went  by  swift  mes- 
senger to  the  pope,  who  was  more  furious  than 
ever.  He  immediately  threatened  the  whole  city  of 
Florence  with  interdict  if  the  Signory  did  not  put  a 
stop  to  the  sermons.  Savonarola  was  described  in 
this  brief  as  "the  son  of  perdition."  Another  brief 
was  sent  to  the  canons  of  the  Duomo,  ordering  them 
to  prevent  Savonarola  from  again  entering  their 
building.  In  the  last  sermon  which  he  preached  in 
the  Duomo  Savonarola  said:  "They  call  me  'the 


226  GiROivAMo  SAVONAROLA. 

son  of  perdition.'  Let  this  be  sent  back  for 
answer:  'The  man  whom  you  thus  designate  has 
neither  harlots  nor  concubines,  but  gives  himself 
up  to  preaching  the  faith  of  Christ.  His  spiritual 
children,  those  who  listen  to  his  doctrine,  do  not 
pass  their  time  in  the  commission  of  crime;  they 
live  virtuously.  This  people  labors  to  exalt  the 
Church,  and  you  to  destroy  it.'  "  The  menaces  and 
threats  of  Rome  had  no  terror  for  the  aroused 
Puritanism  in  Savonarola.  Again  he  held  up  the 
corruptions  of  Rome  to  the  public  gaze;  again  he 
described  the  woes  of  his  beloved  Italy;  again  he 
proclaimed  a  mighty  regeneration  of  the  Church 
and  the  triumph  of  the  Gospel.  "I  will  thunder 
in  their  ears,"  and  the  preacher's  voice  sounded  like 
thunder  to  those  who  heard  him,  "I  will  thunder 
in  their  ears  after  such  a  fashion  that  they  will  hear 
indeed.  The  time  draws  near  to  open  the  casket, 
and  if  we  but  turn  the  key  there  will  come  forth 
such  a  stench  from  the  Roman  sink  that  it  will 
spread  through  all  Christendom,  and  every  one  will 
perceive  it." 

It  seems  to  be  commonly  understood  that  this 
announcement  that  he  might  "turn  the  key,"  was  a 
hint  of  his  purpose  to  call  a  general  church  council 
which  would  depose  Alexander  and  take  measures 
to  reform  the  Church.  But  after  Alexander  had 
branded  him  as  "the  son  of  perdition,"  and  threat- 
ened interdict  for  Florence  in  case  he  continued 
to  preach,  there  was  little  more  that  Savonarola 
could  do.  He  did  preach  a  few  sermons  in  San 
Marco  and  then  said  farewell  to  the  pulpit.  He 
had  preached  for  eight  years  since  coming  out  of 


STRUGGLE  WITH  ROME  GOES  ON.         227 

the  rose-scented  garden  where  he  had  been  lectur- 
ing to  monks  and  citizens.  The  prophecy  then  was 
fulfilled  and  Savonarola's  preaching  was  done. 

There  was  nothing  left  now  but  to  "turn  the 
key."  But  it  was  too  late  to  do  that  effectively. 
Alexander,  it  is  true,  was  increasingly  unpopular, 
his  scandalous  life  more  and  more  notorious,  his 
avarice  more  unblushing  than  ever;  but  with  the 
return  of  Charles  to  France  the  time  had  passed 
for  the  calling  of  a  Church  council.  No  one  knew 
this  better  than  the  shrewd  cardinals  who  had 
waited  upon  him  in  Rome.  Savonarola,  however, 
was  not  a  politician.  He  only  knew  that  his  cause 
was  just  and  that  it  ought  to  prevail.  That  was 
enough  for  him.  His  plan  involved  the  co-opera- 
tion of  the  sovereigns  of  France,  Spain,  Germany, 
England,  and  Hungary  in  calling  a  council  of  the 
whole  Church.  The  formal  letter,  addressed  to 
each  of  these  princes,  began  thus:  "The  Church  is 
steeped  in  shame  and  crime  from  head  to  foot. 
You,  instead  of  exerting  yourself  to  deliver  her, 
bow  down  before  the  source  of  all  this  evil.  There- 
fore, the  Lord  is  angry  and  hath  left  the  Church 
for  so  long  without  a  shepherd.  I  assure  you,  in 
the  word  of  the  Lord,  that  this  Alexander  is  no 
pope  at  all,  and  should  not  be  accounted  as  such; 
for,  besides  having  attained  to  the  chair  of  St.  Peter 
by  the  shameless  sin  of  simony,  and  still  daily  sell- 
ing benefices  to  the  highest  bidder, — besides  his 
other  vices  which  are  known  to  all  the  world,  I 
affirm  also  that  he  is  not  a  Christian,  and  does  not 
believe  in  the  existence  of  God,  which  is  the  deepest 
depth  of  unbelief."  These  princes  were  enjoined 


228  GiROivAMo  SAVONAROLA. 

to  convoke  a  council  as  speedily  as  possible  in  some 
neutral  place,  and  they  were  given  the  assurance 
that  God  would  favor  their  work.  Before  send- 
ing the  formal  letter  to  these  princes,  communica- 
tion was  opened  with  the  Florentine  envoys  at  their 
respective  courts.  One  of  the  letters  thus  sent  was 
intercepted  by  spies  of  the  Duke  of  Milan.  From 
the  duke  the  letter  went  quickly  to  Alexander.  If 
Alexander's  rage  could  have  been  fiercer  than  it 
was  before,  it  would  have  been  so  now.  Should 
these  princes  respond  favorably,  Alexander's  life 
would  be  in  danger;  but  with  this  letter  in  his 
hands,  bursting  with  rage  though  he  was,  he  well 
knew  what  would  be  the  outcome  in  Florence. 

The  most  pathetically  tragic  of  all  the  experi- 
ences of  Savonarola  thus  far  must  now  be  recorded 
— the  ordeal  of  fire.  It  ought  never  to  have  hap- 
pened, and  would  not  if  Savonarola  had  shown 
the  poise  and  independence  in  this  situation  he 
had  shown  in  others.  He  was  pressed  into  it 
against  his  own  reason  and  judgment.  Influenced 
by  the  sentiment  of  the  age  in  which  he  lived, 
and  relying  on  the  testimony  and  judgment  of 
brother  monks,  he  was  led  to  do  what  he  knew 
was  out  of  harmony  with  his  •  teachings  and  with 
his  profound  convictions. 

The  way  it  happened  was  this.  The  Franciscan 
monks  of  Santa  Croce,  envious  of  the  fame  which 
had  come  to  the  Dominicans  through  Savonarola's 
powerful  leadership  in  Florence,  now  naturally  took 
the  side  of  the  pope  with  greater  vehemence  and 
energy  than  ever.  One  of  the  number,  Fra  Fran- 
cesco de  Puglia,  who  was  preaching  the  Lenten 


STRUGGLE  WITH  ROME  GOES  ON          229 

sermons  in  Santa  Croce,  declared  his  readiness  to 
enter  a  burning  fire  "along  with  the  adversary," 
to  test  the  validity  of  the  excommunication  and 
the  error  of  Savonarola's  prophetic  pretentions. 
The  challenge  was  quickly  accepted  by  Fra  Do- 
menico,  who  declared  himself  ready  to  prove  by  the 
fiery  ordeal  the  following  conclusions:  namely, 
that  the  Church  was  in  need  of  reform  and  would 
be  chastised  first  and  then  restored;  that  Florence 
also  would  be  chastised,  and  afterwards  restored 
to  flourish  anew;  that  infidels  would  be  converted 
to  Christianity;  that  these  things  would  come  to 
pass  in  that  very  age;  and  that  the  excommunica- 
tion pronounced  against  Fra  Girolamo  Savonarola 
was  invalid  and  might  be  disregarded  without  sin. 
Savonarola  at  once  tried  to  refrain  Domenico,  who 
pleaded  with  tears  for  the  privilege  of  the  high 
honor  of  thus  openly  proving  to  the  world  the 
truth  of  his  master's  teachings.  Fra  Silvestro  now 
came  forward  with  the  story  of  a  vision  in  which 
he  had  seen  Fra  Domenico  guarded  by  angels  and 
coming  out  of  the  fire  unhurt.  What  was  most 
embarrassing  for  Savonarola  was  that  the  Signory 
formally  gave  their  sanction  to  the  proposed  ordeal 
and  proceeded  to  arrange  the  terms  and  conditions 
under  which  it  should  take  place.  Reluctantly  Sa- 
vonarola yielded. 

Florence  was  eager  for  the  day  of  the  ordeal 
to  come,  and  was  bitterly  disappointed  that  it  was 
once  postponed.  What  could  be  more  dramatically 
exciting  than  to  see  two  monks  walk  into  the  flame 
to  prove  which  was  right,  the  pope  or  Savonarola. 
If  Domenico  should  burn  that  would  settle  it  that 


230  GIRCXUYMO  SAVONAROLA. 

the  excommunication  was  valid.  If  Francesco 
should  fall  in  the  flames  it  would  be  good  proof 
that  Savonarola  was  a  true  prophet.  The  solemn 
decision  of  the  Signory  was  that  if  the  Dominican 
champion  should  perish  Savonarola  must  leave  the 
city,  or  if  the  Franciscan  champion  should  burn, 
then  Fra  Francesco  must  go.  Should  both  cham- 
pions, however,  succumb  to  the  flames,  the  sen- 
tence of  banishment  was  to  fall  on  the  Dominicans 
alone;  and  if  one  or  the  other  of  them  refused  to 
enter  the  fire,  he  and  his  party  should  suffer  the 
penalty. 

Not  a  friar  in  San  Marco  but  would  have  been 
glad  to  take  Domenico's  place.  On  all  sides  they 
offered  themselves:  "Behold  me!  behold  me!  I 
am  ready  to  go  into  the  fire  for  the  glory  of  the 
Lord."  The  whole  matter  of  the  ordeal  had  been 
fully  reported  to  the  pope,  who  knew  all  the  details 
of  the  plan  and  that  the  day  had  been  set  for  the 
event.  Some  there  were  who  believed  and  hoped 
that  Alexander,  as  soon  as  he  heard  of  it,  would 
promptly  forbid  the  ordeal's  taking  place,  but  he 
did  not  do  it.  Perhaps  he  saw,  as  the  Arrabbiati 
did,  that  in  any  case  the  ordeal  would  end  in  hu- 
miliation for  Savonarola. 

The  day  finally  fixed  upon  for  the  fire  test  was 
the  7th  of  April.  A  great  platform  was  erected 
in  the  Piazza  in  front  of  the  old  Palace.  It  was 
sixty  yards  long  and  ten  yards  wide,  and  on  it 
were  two  rows  of  fagots  well  saturated  with  pitch 
and  oil,  between  which  the  pious  champions  were  to 
walk.  It  was  agreed  that  the  fagots  should  be 
lighted  at  one  end  of  the  platform  and  that  the 


STRUGGLE  WITH  ROME  GOES  ON.         231 

friars  enter  at  the  other,  and  that,  after  they  had 
entered,  the  fagots  should  be  lighted  behind  them. 
To  make  sure  that  all  this  be  done  decently  and  in 
order,  the  Magnificent  Signory  had  provided  that 
all  openings  to  the  Piazza  should  be  guarded  by 
soldiers ;  extra  troops  were  also  in  reserve  in  front 
of  the  Palace.  Each  party,  too,  had  armed  men 
of  its  own.  Three  hundred  Piagneni  were  drawn 
up  under  Salviati  to  protect  Savonarola  and  the 
friars  of  San  Marco.  Dolfo  Spiri  was  there  with 
a  band  of  five  hundred  Compagnacci  to  guard  the 
rights  of  the  Franciscans. 

Before  leaving  San  Marco  Savonarola  had  cel- 
ebrated the  mass  and  said  to  his  brother  monks  "I 
can  not  be  certain  that  the  ordeal  will  take  place, 
for  that  does  not  depend  on  us ;  but  I  am  able  to 
tell  you  that  if  it  does  take  place  the  victory  will 
certainly  be  ours."  In  this  hesitation  we  see  Sa- 
vonarola's better  and  nobler  self  struggling  against 
the  self  which  was  the  product  of  the  age  that  gave 
him  birth.  "Are  you  willing  to  serve  God,  O  my 
people?"  When  every  one  answered,  "Yes,"  there 
seemed  nothing  for  him  to  do  but  go  with  the  de- 
fender of  his  honor  to  the  Piazza  Signoria. 

The  Loggia  dei  Lanzi,  where  stands  the  noble 
statue  of  Judith  and  Holophernes,  had  been  set 
apart  for  the  representatives  of  the  contesting  par- 
ties. The  Franciscans  were  given  the  half  next 
the  Palace,  the  Dominicans  were  assigned  the  farth- 
est side.  The  Franciscans  had  come  early.  The 
bell  in  the  great  tower  was  striking  twelve,  so  it 
is  said,  when  the  Dominicans  approached,  singing 
that  great  psalm  so  often  sung  nearly  two  cen- 


232  GlROLAMO   SAVONAROLA. 

turies  later  by  Cromwell  and  his  armies  as  they 
marched  to  battle:  "Let  God  arise,  and  let  His 
enemies  be  scattered."  Voices  in  the  crowd  took 
up  the  refrain  with  such  strength  and  fervor  that, 
to  the  Piagnoni,  it  seemed  as  if  the  earth  trem- 
bled in  sympathy  with  their  great  cause.  Fra  Do- 
menico,  walking  as  though  going  to  his  coronation* 
wore  a  red  cope  and  held  a  cross  in  his  hand.  Sa- 
vonarola, dressed  in  the  white  robes  of  a  priest, 
carried  before  him  the  sacrament.  When  he  en- 
tered the  Loggia  and  faced  the  immense  throng  of 
people,  all  doubt  seemed  to  have  vanished ;  he  stood 
there  with  serene  countenance  to  await  the  vindi- 
cation which  a  righteous  God  was  about  to  show. 

Fra  Rondinelli,  who  had  been  appointed  to  take 
the  place  of  Fra  Francesco  as  the  representative 
of  the  Franciscans,  had  not  yet  appeared.  He  was 
inside  the  Palace  consulting  with  the  Signory  and 
entering  objections.  Rondinelli  never  believed  he 
would  come  out  of  the  fire  alive.  He  was  therefore 
slow  about  entering  it.  First,  he  would  not  have 
Domenico  go  into  the  fire  with  the  red  cope.  That 
settled,  he  objected  to  Domenico's  vestments;  they 
were  possibly  enchanted  so  that  the  fire  would  not 
touch  them.  Here  Savonarola  protested,  but  finally 
yielded;  and  Domenico  was  conducted  into  -the 
Palace  to  exchange  clothes  with  Allessandro 
Strozzi.  It  was  a  glad  moment  for  Fra  Allessandro, 
for  he  thought  that  he,  instead  of  Domenico,  was 
to  have  the  high  honor  of  facing  the  flames.  With 
the  joy  of  a  true  Christian  martyr  he  threw  him- 
self at  the  feet  of  Savonarola  for  his  blessing. 

The  crowd,  not  understanding  the  cause  of  the 


WITH  ROMS  GOES  ON.         233 

delay,  became  restless,  and  there  were  cries  for 
Savonarola  to  end  the  matter  by  going  into  the 
fire  himself.  Could  he  not  do  it?  Was  he  not  a 
prophet?  Would  not  God  speak  to  the  flames 
and  command  them  not  to  touch  him?  Disorder 
near  the  rows  of  fagots  led  the  Compagnacci  to 
rush  toward  the  Loggia.  Salviati  promptly  met 
them,  and  drawing  a  line  on  the  ground  at  a  good 
distance  from  the  Loggia,  threatened  death  to  the 
first  man  who  crossed  it.  Rondinelli  had  not  yet 
shown  himself.  The  crowd  murmured  and  grew 
more  impatient.  A  thunder  storm  suddenly  broke 
over  the  city  and  the  rain  fell  in  torrents.  But 
not  a  man  left  the  Piazza..  The  crowd  had  come 
for  a  miracle !  And  a  miracle  they  would  have ! 
Now  Rondinelli  objected  to  Domenico's  crucifix. 
He  would  take  the  host  then.  "Horrors !"  cried  the 
Franciscans.  There  was  constant  coming  and 
going  between  the  Palace  and  the  Loggia,  but 
nothing  done.  Night  was  coming  on,  and  the 
crowd  was  getting  ugly.  Finally  the  Signory  com- 
manded that  the  ordeal  stand  suspended  and  that 
both  parties  return  to  their  monasteries.  The 
monks  were  ready.  On  both  sides  they  had  had 
enough  of  the  bad  business.  Not  so  the  crowd. 
Where  was  the  miracle  ?  They  had  sniffed  no  smell 
of  scorching  flesh !  It  was  Savonarola  whose  honor 
was  at  stake !  Why  had  he  not  walked  between  the 
fagots?  Surely  if  he  were  God's  prophet  he  could 
have  done  it! 

The  spell  was  broken.  No  one  knew  it  better 
than  Savonarola.  It  was  a  Via  Dolorosa  indeed 
along  which  he  carried  his  heavy  heart  as  he  re- 


234  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

turned  to  San  Marco.  And  how  the  crowd  hooted 
at  him  and  derided  him  as  he  entered  the  convent 
gate !  The  agonies  in  the  prior's  cell  in  San  Marco 
that  night  must  have  had  something  of  Geth- 
semane's  burden  in  them.  There  were  other  bur- 
dens, too.  We  may  well  believe  that  ere  morning 
the  greater  Savonarola  had  triumphed,  the  Savon- 
arola which  was  so  much  larger  than  the  age  in 
which  he  lived. 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 
THE  TRAGIC  END. 

THERE;  are  but  four  things  to  tell  of  now, — the 
arrest,  the  mock  trial,  the  thirty  days  of  solitary 
confinement  in  the  little  cell  in  the  top  of  Arnolfo's 
tower,  and  the  death  in  the  Piazza.. 

Before  entering  his  cell,  after  returning  from- 
the  humiliating  ordeal  in  front  of  the  old  Palace, 
Savonarola  went  at  once  into  the  convent  church 
where  Piagnoni  women  had  waited  all  day  in 
prayer.  Entering  the  pulpit,  he  told  them  of  all 
that  had  happened  during  the  day,  and  counseled 
them  to  live  godly  lives ;  then  dismissed  them  with 
his  blessing. 

On  the  morrow  all  was  quiet  in  Florence.  It 
was  Palm  Sunday.  What  memories  must  have 
come  to  Savonarola  as  he  heard  the  monks  chant- 
ing that  morning,  "Blessed  is  he  that  cometh  in  the 
name  of  the  Lord."  He  had  made  much  of  Palm 
Sunday  all  through  the  years  of  his  supremacy 
in  the  pulpit.  His  sermon  on  this  day  was  in  the 
Church  of  San  Marco.  It  was  the  last  sermon  he 
ever  preached.  His  message  was  sad  and  brief. 
He  solemnly  offered  his  body  as  a  sacrifice  to 
God,  and  declared  his  readiness  to  suffer  death 
for  the  good  of  his  people.  With  the  sublime  com- 
posure of  one  who  had  fought  a  good  fight  and 
235 


236  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

kept  the  faith,  he  bade  farewell  to  his  people,  well 
knowing  that  he  was  speaking  to  them  for  the  last 
time.  After  pronouncing  the  benediction  of  peace, 
he  went  back  to  his  cell,  and  was  again  alone  with 
his  God. 

Later  in  the  day,  at  Vesper  time,  the  Compag- 
nacci,  breaking  the  sullen  calm  which  had  oppressed 
the  city  from  morning  until  now,  created  a  disturb- 
ance at  the  Duomo  where  one  of  the  friars  of  San 
Marco  was  to  preach.  Stones  and  insolence  met 
the  Piagnoni  who  came  to  hear  the  sermon. 

"Our  turn  has  come  now !"  fiercely  snapped  the 
Compagnacci.  "No  sermon  to-day!"  Swords 
flashed,  and  then  the  riot  began.  Their  work  done 
at  the  Duomo,  the  Compagnacci  shouted,  "To  San 
Marco!  To  San  Marco!  Fire  in  hand!"  The 
opportunity  for  which  they  had  waited  had  come, 
and  with  ruffian  delight  they  improved  it.  Wait- 
ing only  to  gather  a  crowd,  they  slashed  their  way 
to  San  Marco.  More  than  one  of  the  Piagnoni  lay 
dead  behind  them.  "Twist  necks"  and  "prayer 
mumblers"  would  get  it  now!  Some  with  swords 
stained  with  blood,  others  grasping  guns  or  carry- 
ing sticks,  and  still  others  with  their  hands  filled 
with  stones,  they  pushed  and  crowded  into  the 
Piazza,  of  San  Marco,  yelling  their  wild  threats, 
hooting,  at  shrieking  women,  tearing  their  way 
toward  the  man  who  had  reproved  their  evil  doings 
and  denounced  their  crimes.  Finding  the  church 
still  well  filled  with  people  who  had  remained  in 
prayer  after  vespers,  they  pelted  them  with  stones, 
and  struck  right  and  left  at  those  who  tried  to 
escape.  The  doors  of  the  church  and  convent  were 


THE  TRAGIC  END.  237 

quickly  barred.  Then  the  mob  yelled  their  wrath 
outside. 

Some  of  the  friars,  and  certain  citizens  devoted 
to  San  Marco,  fearing  what  might  happen,  had 
concealed  a  store  of  arms,  without  the  knowledge 
of  Savonarola.  They  had  breast-plates,  helmets, 
halberds,  cross-bows,  shields,  four  or  five  arque- 
busses,  and  two  small  cannon.  Lucca  della  Rob- 
bia  was  in  the  company,  and  Fra  Benedetto;  Fran- 
cesco Valori  was  also  there.  When  Savonarola 
saw  the  friars  with  helmits  on,  and  breast-plates 
over  their  robes,  brandishing  great  halberds,  and 
shouting  "Viva  Gesu  Christo!"  he  was  deeply 
grieved,  and  at  once  implored  and  commanded  that 
all  attempts  at  defense  should  cease.  "Do  not  stain 
your  hands  in  blood;  do  not  disobey  the  precepts 
of  the  Gospel,  nor  your  superior's  commands." 
Thus  he  cried  with  a  loud  voice.  Only  a  few  heard 
him.  The  mob  were  attacking  the  gates,  and  their 
furious  yells  shut  out  all  else. 

Savonarola  now  put  on  his  priestly  robes,  and 
with  cross  in  hand  approached  the  gate  to  deliver 
himself  to  his  enemies,  saying  to  his  companions, 
"Suffer  me  to  go  forth,  since  through  me  this  tem- 
pest has  arisen."  But  friars  and  citizens  protested 
that  he  would  be  torn  to  pieces,  and  begged  him 
not  to  leave  them.  "What,"  they  said,  "will  become 
of  us  without  you?"  Failing  to  persuade  them,  he 
bade  all  follow  him  into  the  church.  "Prayer," 
he  said  to  the  friars,  "is  the  only  weapon  to  be 
employed  by  a  minister  of  the  Gospel."  Kneeling 
in  the  choir  of  the  church  with  those  who  had 


238  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

followed  him,  he  led  them  in  intoning  the  chant, 
"O  Lord,  save  Thy  people !" 

Some  two  hours  before  sundown,  the  mace- 
bearers  came  to  the  monastery  to  announce  a  decree 
of  the  Signory  just  enacted:  that  all  in  the  mon- 
astery were  to  lay  down  arms ;  that  Savonarola  was 
sentenced  to  exile;  and  that  he  must  be  out  of 
Florentine  territory  within  twelve  hours'  time. 
Many  could  not  believe  the  message.  How  could 
the  Signory  order  men  who  were  defending  their 
own  property  to  lay  down  arms,  and  do  nothing  to 
the  mob  outside?  It  was  unthinkable!  But  that 
was  the  decree.  The  mace-bearers  had  delivered 
the  message  as  instructed.  Some  now  left  the  mon- 
astry  to  defend  their  own  homes,  and  to  gather 
reinforcements  for  San  Marco.  Among  them  was 
Valori.  He  was  let  down  over  the  rear  wall.  On 
reaching  his  home  he  found  it  surrounded  by 
enemies ;  saw  his  wife  brutally  murdered  before  his 
eyes ;  and  then,  pushing  his  way  toward  the  Palace 
to  answer  a  summons  of  the  Signory,  he  was  struck 
by  a  Tornabuoni  sword  and  killed  instantly.  His 
house  was  sacked  and  burned.  Many  others  suf- 
fered the  same  fate. 

It  was  a  Compagnacci  night  The  "Bad  Men" 
of  the  Arrabbiati  revelled  in  fire  and  blood  until 
they  sank  down  exhausted.  The  attack  on  San 
Marco  became  more  desperate  as  night  deepened, 
until  finally  the  walls  were  scaled,  and  the  mob 
entered.  They  had  been  held  back  so  long  that 
frenzy  had  now  reached  its  limit.  With  torch  and 
sword  they  made  their  way  through  the  cloisters, 
sacking  rooms  on  all  sides,  entering  the  cells  to 


THE  TRAGIC  END.  239 

smear  and  scorch  with  their  torches  some  of  the 
most  beautiful  of  Fra  Angelico's  frescoes.  Then 
they  broke  open  the  door  of  the  choir  where  the 
friars  were  praying.  Thus  suddenly  surprised,  the 
friars  seized  anything  within  reach,  and  rushed 
upon  their  assailants.  It  was  a  strange  sight! 
Crosses,  torches,  and  halberds  all  in  the  air  at  once ! 
The  great  bell  of  the  convent  sounded  an  alarm, 
and  the  struggle  was  on  in  earnest.  Villari  tells  a 
thrilling  story  of  the  daring  and  heroism  of  these 
friars  in  defending  their  monastery;  how  Baldo 
Inghirlami  and  Francesco  Davanzati  dealt  vigorous 
blows;  how  Luca  della  Robbia  chased  the  foes 
through  the  cloister,  sword  in  hand ;  how  Fra  Ben- 
edetto and  a  few  associates  mounted  the  roof,  and 
repeatedly  drove  back  the  enemy  with  a  furious  hail 
of  stones  and  tiles;  how  several  of  the  monks  fired 
their  muskets  with  good  results;  and  how  a  cer- 
tain Fra  Enrico,  a  young,  fair-haired,  handsome 
German,  particularly  distinguished  himself  by  his 
prowess ;  swinging  a  great  halberd,  he  accompanied 
each  stroke,  as  it  fell  upon  the  back  of  a  rioter, 
with  the  words,  "O  Lord,  save  Thy  people!" 

With  complete  victory  in  sight,  the  defenders 
were  smiting  vigorously  right  and  left  to  clear  the 
monastery  of  the  last  invader,  when  another  edict 
came  from  the  Signory,  declaring  all  to  be  rebels 
who  did  not  forsake  the  convent  within  an  hour. 
It  was  evident  now  that  the  Signory  was  deter- 
mined to  crush  San  Marco  as  well  as  its  Prior. 
Savonarola  still  remained,  with  a  few  others,  in  the 
choir  of  the  church  where  they  continued  in  prayer 
and  praise.  A  little  later  another  decree  came,  and 


240  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

this  a  threatening  one,  commanding  Savonarola, 
Fra  Dominico  and  Fra  Silvestro  to  present  them- 
selves at  the  Palace  without  delay.  Dominico  de- 
manded that  the  decree  should  be  brought  in  writ- 
ing. When  it  finally  came,  and  in  proper  form, 
Savonarola  gathered  his  brother  friars  about  him, 
and  spoke  a  parting  message.  Simple  words,  but 
memorable.  "My  beloved  children,  in  the  presence 
of  God,  in  the  presence  of  the  consecrated  wafer, 
with  our  enemies  already  in  the  convent,  I  confirm 
the  truth  of  my  doctrine.  All  that  I  have  said  hath 
come  to  me  from  God,  and  He  is  my  witness  in 
heaven  that  I  speak  no  lie.  I  had  not  foreseen  that 
all  the  city  would  turn  so  quickly  against  me,  never- 
theless, may  the  Lord's  will  be  done.  My  last  ex- 
hortation to  you  is  this:  Let  faith,  prayer,  and  pa- 
tience be  your  weapons.  I  leave  you  with  anguish 
and  grief  to  give  myself  into  mine  enemy's  hands. 
I  do  not  know  whether  they  will  take  my  life,  but 
certain  am  I  that  once  dead  I  shall  be  able  to 
succor  you  in  heaven  far  better  than  it  hath  been 
granted  me  to  help  on  earth.  Take  comfort,  em- 
brace the  cross,  and  by  it  you  shall  find  the  way 
of  salvation." 

It  was  one  o'clock  in  the  .morning  when  the 
mace-bearers  came  from  the  Signory  with-  the 
decree  of  arrest  properly  signed.  Before  leaving 
the  monastery  Savonarola  spoke  this  one  parting 
word  to  the  broken-hearted  friars:  "My  brethren, 
take  heed  not  to  doubt.  The  work  of  the  Lord 
shall  go  forward  without  cease,  and  my  death  will 
but  hasten  it  on."  The  mob  were  so  intoxicated 
with  ghoulish  glee  when  they  saw  the  prisoner  that 


THE  TRAGIC  END.  241 

the  officers  of  the  Signory  had  difficulty  in  saving 
him  from  their  clutches.  They  flashed  lanterns  in 
his  face  and  sneered,  "Behold  the  true  light!"  A 
human  cur  twisted  one  of  his  fingers  and  taunt- 
ingly hissed,  "Turn  the  key,  prophet !"  But  enough. 
It  was  a  mob  at  its  worst.  That  tells  the  whole 
story.  Brought  before  the  Gonfaloniere,  the  pris- 
oners were  assigned  to  their  cells.  Savonarola  was 
taken  to  a  little  room  high  up  in  the  bell-tower  of 
the  old  Palace.  Strange  coincidence !  In  this  very 
cell  Cosimo  de'  Medici,  father  of  Lorenzo  the  Mag- 
nificent, had  once  been  a  prisoner. 

The  Signory  immediately  notified  Rome  of  what 
had  happened.  They  sent  messages  to  Milan  and 
to  other  courts.  In  the  message  to  Rome  they 
instructed  their  envoy  to  obtain  from  the  pope  abso- 
lution from  all  the  censure  they  might  have  in- 
curred in  tolerating  Savonarola's  sermons,  and  later 
for  having  laid  violent  hands  on  ecclesiastics.  They 
asked  permission  to  sit  in  judgment  on  Savonarola 
and  his  associates  in  crime,  and  in  closing  re- 
quested the  envoy  to  ask  his  Holiness  for  a  speedy 
settlement  of  the  question  of  Church  taxes,  which 
had  long  been  vexing  them.  It  was  a  happy  mes- 
sage the  pope  sent  in  reply.  Full  absolution  was 
granted  and  the  papal  benediction.  They  were 
given  authority  to  examine  and  try  the  prisoners 
and  also  to  put  them  to  torture.  The  Signory  were 
praised  for  all  they  had  done,  and  plenary  in- 
dulgence was  sent  for  the  Easter  octave  in  the 
Duomo.  Letters  of  hearty  congratulation  came 
from  the  Duke  of  Milan,  and  he  promised  the 
speedy  surrender  of  Pisa.  But  of  all  the  tidings 
16 


242  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

which  brought  cheer  to  the  enemies  of  Savon- 
arola none  compared  with  a  message  from  France 
announcing  the  death  of  Charles  VIII.  He  had 
died  on  the  7th  of  April,  the  very  day  of  the  ordeal 
of  fire.  Savonarola's  one  strong  political  friend 
was  thus  taken  from  him  in  the  hour  of  his  greatest 
need.  Earth  offered  no  further  hope  for  him.  Shut 
up  in  a  dungeon,  his  enemies  masters  of  Florence, 
the  Compagnacci  busy  with  plans  to  complete  the 
overthrow  of  the  Piagnoni,  he  well  knew  that  he 
was  in  his  enemy's  hands  and  that  no  mercy  would 
be  shown.  Preliminary  preparations  were  made  for 
the  trial  by  holding  a  Pratica,  in  which  was  dis- 
cussed the  mode  and  place  of  examination,  and  the 
court  before  which  the  distinguished  prisoner 
should  be  tried. 

It  was  soon  evident  that  customs,  and  even  laws, 
would  be  set  aside  in  order  to  secure  the  certain 
and  speedy  condemnation  of  the  man  who  had 
done  more  for  the  liberties  of  Florence  than  all 
others  of  the  century  in  which  he  lived.  New 
councils  of  the  Ten  and  the  Eight  were  elected  and 
instructed  to  sit  with  the  men  who  were  actually 
in  office.  On  the  nth  of  April  a  Commission  of 
seventeen  examiners  was  appointed  to  conduct  the 
trial  of  the  three  friars.  In  trie  list  of  the  seven- 
teen composing  the  comission  there  were  some  of 
the  bitterest  enemies  Savonarola  had;  among  them 
Dolfo  Spini,  the  most  ferociously  vindictive  of  them 
all.  With  such  a  Commission  nobody  had  any 
doubt  as  to  what  would  be  the  outcome  of  the  trial. 
The  day  after  the  arrest  Savonarola  was  taken 
to  a  hall  in  the  Bargello  where  the  examination  was 


THE  TRAGIC  END.  243 

to  begin.  All  the  questions  centered  about  three 
points, — his  religious  teaching,  his  political  con- 
duct, and  his  prophecies.  In  all  the  examinations 
and  tortures  it  was  made  clear  to  the  examiners 
that  on  the  first  two  points  they  could  find  nothing 
against  him.  It  was  only  at  the  point  of  his  proph- 
ecies that  he  showed  any  weakness  at  all. 

Perhaps  a  word  ought  to  be  said  just  here  with 
reference  to  Savonarola's  claim  to  prophetic  gifts. 
It  will  be  remembered  that  from  the  beginning  of 
his  public  ministry  he  saw  visions,  in  which  it 
seemed  to  him  that  God  actually  spoke  to  him  and 
gave  him  a  message  for  the  people.  The  word 
which  he  proclaimed  was  not  his  word  but  God's 
word.  This  he  said  over  and  over  again.  More 
than  once,  too,  he  foretold  events  which  actually 
came  to  pass.  There  were  two  notable  instances, 
however,  in  which  he  failed.  First,  in  the  case  of 
Charles  VIII,  whom  he  described  as  the  scourge 
of  God,  who  would  punish  the  princes  of  Italy  and 
be  the  means  of  regenerating  the  Church.  This 
Charles  did  not  do.  And  because  he  did  not  do  it 
Savonarola  prophesied  that  woes  would  come  upon 
him.  And  they  did  come.  The  royal  heart  of 
Charles  was  filled  with  bitter  grief  at  the  untimely 
death  of  the  Dauphin;  and  his  own  sudden  and 
ignominious  death  was  spoken  of,  even  by  so 
worldly-minded  a  man  as  De  Comines,  as  an  ap- 
parent fulfillment  of  the  prophecies  which  he  had 
read  in  letters  addressed  to  King  Charles,  and 
which  he  had  actually  heard  from  the  lips  of  Sa- 
vonarola himself.  The  second  notable  failure  was 
in  the  prophecy  that  he  would  "turn  the  key,"  and 


244  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

that  the  princes  of  the  nations  would  rise  up  to 
depose  Alexander,  and  adopt  means  for  the  refor- 
mation of  the  Church. 

What  shall  be  said  of  this  claim  to  prophetic 
gifts?  Nothing  perhaps  except  this,  that  in  some 
instances  Savonarola  failed  to  distinguish  between 
human  discernment  of  the  inevitable  results  of  a 
course  of  action  and  direct,  immediate  revelation. 
Many  of  his  so-called  prophecies  were  utterances 
for  which  he  never  claimed  any  supernatural  il- 
lumination. Others  bear  all  the  marks  of  real 
prophecy,  as  much  so  as  anything  to  be  found  in 
the  Old  Testament.  It  is  not  claimed  here  that 
they  were  prophecies  of  this  class,  but  it  may  be 
asserted  that  this  explanation  of  them  offers  as 
few  difficulties  in  interpretation  as  any  other  which 
has  been  suggested.  But  we  are  coming  to  under- 
stand in  these  later  days  that  the  prophet  of  God 
is  not  primarily  one  who  foretells  future  events. 
In  fact  the  power  to  foretell  is  almost  the  smallest 
thing  about  the  prophet.  The  prophet  is  a  dis- 
cerner  rather  than  a  foreteller.  Measured  by  the 
standards  of  our  own  time,  and  making  due  allow- 
ance for  a  mystical  tendency  in  his  thinking,  there 
is  little  to  criticise  in  Savonarola's  prophecies.  He 
himself  often  said  that  he  did  not  certainly  know 
to  what  extent  God  had  vouchsafed  to  him  the 
power  to  forsee  what  would  happen  for  the  glory 
or  shame  of  the  Church.  But  the  examiners  saw 
their  opportunity  and  pushed  their  questions  at  the 
point  of  the  prophecies ;  and  when  questions  would 
not  do  they  tried  torture;  then  they  questioned 
again,  and  then  again  went  back  to  the  torture. 


THE;  TRAGIC  END.  245 

Pico  della  Mirandola  has  given  a  minute  ac- 
count of  the  horrible  punishment  of  torture  which 
Savonarola  suffered.  It  is  almost  too  bad  to  print, 
and  would  not  be  written  down  here,  but  that  some, 
forsooth,  count  it  much  against  Savonarola  that 
he  said  some  things  under  torture  which  he  de- 
nied afterwards,  and  would  never  have  said  except 
in  the  delirium  of  excruciating  pain.  Pico's  story 
of  the  torture  is  this:  "His  hands  were  bound 
behind  his  back  with  the  strongest  chains.  They 
were  then  tied  to  a  rope  attached  to  the  roof  of 
the  building,  by  which  he  was  first  drawn  up  to  a 
great  height,  and  then  let  fall  with  great  violence, 
so  that  his  feet  did  not  quite  touch  the  ground ;  and 
his  body,  remaining  suspended  in  the  air,  sprang 
upwards  again,  so  that  his  shoulders  were  put  out 
of  joint  and  his  muscles  strained  and  torn.  Instru- 
ments of  torture  were  set  before  his  eyes.  Insults 
were  heaped  upon  him;  he  was  struck  and  spit 
upon,  his  torturers  demanding  all  the  time  that  he 
should  recant  his  prophecies  and  disavow  his  pre- 
tensions to  be  a  messenger  of  God.  Burning  coals 
were  then  applied  to  his  feet,  so  that  the  flesh  and 
nerves  were  half  burned,  in  order  that  he  might  be 
induced  to  retract.  He  refused  to  do  so.  Again 
and  again  they  repeated  the  torture,  and  he  re- 
peated his  innocence,  crying  out  with  the  prophet 
Elijah,  'O  Lord,  take  away  my  life.'  When  the 
torture  was  over  and  he  was  led  back  to  his  cell,  he 
immediately  knelt  down  and  prayed  in  the  words 
of  Christ,  'Father,  forgive  them,  for  they  know  not 
what  they  do.'" 

How  often  the  torture  was  applied  is  not  known, 


GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

but  again,  and  again,  and  again,  the  frail  body  was 
racked  and  bruised  and  burned.  Under  continued 
torture  he  spoke  incoherently  at  times,  and  was  not 
clear  about  the  prophecies ;  but  there  is  every  rea» 
son  for  believing  that  Villari  is  right  in  maintain- 
ing that  throughout  the  whole  course  of  the  trial 
Savonarola  was  consistent  with  his  real  self.  What 
the  torturer  could  not  do,  the  Signory  tried  to  ac- 
complish by  employing  an  unscrupulous  notary,  one 
Ser  Ceccone,  to  so  revise  the  report  of  the  trial 
that  they  might  have  some  reason  for  putting  the 
man  to  death.  After  the  first  series  of  examina- 
tions, part  of  the  report  of  the  trial  was  published ; 
but  the  indignation  of  the  people  against  the 
Signory  was  so  great  that  every  copy  was  ordered 
suppressed.  A  subsequent  edition  did  not  make  the 
case  of  the  Signory  much  better. 

A  second  trial  was  begun  on  the  2ist  of  April 
with  new  examinations,  new  torture,  new  revising 
and  altering  of  testimony;  but  the  result  was  no 
better.  It  is  said  the  Signory  was  so  poorly  pleased 
with  the  result  that  they  gave  Ceccone  only  thirty 
ducats,  instead  of  the  four  hundred  promised,  on 
the  ground  that  he  had  not  made  out  a  case  for 
them.  "Thirty  pieces  of  silver,"  then,  was  all  this 
unscrupulous  notary  had  for  his  bad  work.  Alas ! 
Judas,  others  have  sinned  thy  sin! 

There  was  a  month  now  before  the  coming  of 
the  papal  commissioners  from  Rome.  All  this  time 
Savonarola  sat  in  his  narrow  cell  in  the  Palace 
tower.  His  right  arm,  which  had  been  saved  from 
the  torture  in  order  that  he  might  sign  his  tes- 
timony, he  could  now  use  for  writing.  It  speaks 


THE  TRAGIC  END.  247 

much  for  the  moral  greatness  and  heroism  of  the 
man  that,  in  these  thirty  days,  he  did  not  write  one 
word  in  self-defense,  not  a  word  against  his 
judges,  not  a  complaint  against  any  of  his  enemies! 
His  thoughts  were  given  wholly  to  God  and  his 
own  personal  relation  to  Him. 

Savonarola  achieved,  during  this  month  in  the 
little  cell  in  the  Palace  tower,  one  of  the  greatest 
victories  of  his  life.  He  wrote  a  Miserere  and  an 
Exposition  of  the  Thirtieth  Psalm.  The  Miserere 
was  widely  published  after  his  death,  and  in  a  re- 
markably short  space  of  time  ran  through  thirteen 
separate  editions.  Both  were  republished  by  Mar- 
tin Luther  at  Strassburg.  In  the  preface  Luther 
declared  that  Savonarola  was  a  precurser  of  the 
Protestant  doctrine,  and  one  of  the  martyrs  of  the 
Reformation.  "This  man,"  said  he,  "was  put  to 
death  solely  for  having  desired  that  some  one 
should  come  to  purify  the  slough  of  Rome." 

Two  brief  passages  from  these  writings  are  all 
that  space  will  allow.  The  first  is  from  the  Mis- 
erere: "But  when  Thy  spirit  shall  descend  upon 
me,  when  Christ  shall  live  within  me;  then  shall  I 
be  saved.  Strengthen  me  in  Thy  spirit,  O  Lord; 
not  until  then,  can  I  teach  Thy  ways  to  the  wicked. 
Hadst  thou  asked  the  sacrifice  of  my  body,  I  would 
have  given  it  ere  now;  but  burnt  offerings  are  as 
naught  to  Thee;  Thou  wouldst  have  the  offering 
of  the  spirit.  Therefore,  O  sinner,  bring  thy  re- 
pentant heart  unto  the  Lord,  naught  else  shall  be 
required  of  thee." 

The  following  is  from  the  Exposition  of  the 
Thirtieth  Psalm:  "Who  is  he  that  putteth  bounds 


248  GiROivAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

to  the  mercy  of  God,  and  thinketh  to  bear  the 
waters  of  the  ocean  in  his  hands?  Hast  thou  not 
heard  the  Lord  say  :  'When  the  sinner  repenteth  and 
turneth  away  from  his  sins,  I  will  no  more  remem- 
ber his  iniquities.'  God's  mercy  is  boundless.  Didst 
thou  fall,  rise  up,  and  mercy  shall  receive  thee. 
Wast  thou  ruined,  cry,  and  mercy  shall  come  to 
thee." 

At  the  end  of  the  thirty  days  the  papal  com- 
missioners came.  Francesco  Romolino  was  one  of 
them ;  a  brutish  man,  but  a  faithful  servant  of  Alex- 
ander, well  known  afterwards  as  Cardinal  Romo- 
lino. "We  shall  make  a  fine  bonfire,"  said  he,  "I 
bear  the  sentence  with  me  already  prepared."  On 
the  following  morning,  May  the  2Oth,  the  third 
trial  began.  The  examiners  were  on  hand,  and  the 
torturers.  The  papal  commissioners  were  there, 
and  well  supported  by  chosen  representatives  of  the 
municipality.  Ceccone  was  given  help  this  time. 
Men  who  would  be  spurs  to  his  wits  acted  as  his 
assistants.  The  trial  was  substantially  the  same  as 
the  others,  except  that  Romolino's  menaces  and 
furious  threatenings  added  to  the  grewsomeness  of 
the  scene.  Perhaps,  too,  there  were  more  legal  ir- 
regularities in  this  third  trial.  At  the  close  of  the 
second  day  Romolino  commanded  Savonarola ,  to 
appear  before  him  the  following  morning  to  receive 
his  sentence.  The  calm  reply  was,  "I  am  a  pris- 
oner. I  will  come  if  my  jailers  bring  me." 

It  is  said  that  when  the  messengers  entered 
Savonarola's  cell  to  announce  his  sentence  they 
found  him  kneeling  in  prayer.  He  looked  up  only 
long  enough  to  receive  their  message,  and  then 
calmly  went  on  with  his  praying.  Jacobo  Nic- 


THE  TRAGIC  END.  249 

colini,  representing  a  brotherhood  organized  for 
the  purpose  of  ministering  to  the  condemned  dur- 
ing the  last  hours  of  life,  came  into  the  cell  and 
asked  Savonarola  if  there  was  anything  he  de- 
sired. He  had  one  request,  that  he  might  have  a 
brief  interview  with  his  two  brother  prisoners, 
Fra  Domenico  and  Fra  Silvestro,  whom  he  had 
not  seen  for  forty  days.  After  much  hesitation, 
the  Signory  gave  permission. 

The  interview  took  place  in  the  hall  of  the 
Great  Council.  How  strange  that  the  Signory 
should  have  fixed  upon  this  place  for  the  meeting! 
The  "Hall  of  the  Five  Hundred,"  as  it  was  com- 
monly called,  was  where  the  Great  Council  met, 
the  council  for  which  Savonarola  had  pleaded  so 
earnestly — "A  council  after  the  pattern  of  the 
Venetians;"  and  the  hall  itself  was  so  grand  and 
spacious !  It  was  Savonarola  who  had  urged  that 
it  should  be  built.  He  even  offered  to  send  work- 
men from  the  Duomo  to  hasten  the  work.  The 
Italy  of  to-day,  and  the  world,  blesses  that  Signory 
for  fixing  upon  the  hall  of  the  Great  Council,  as 
the  place  where  Savonarola  should  spend  at  least 
one  hour  of  his  last  night  on  earth  with  his  two 
brothers  who  were  to  go  with  him  on  the  morrow 
to  the  scaffold. 

We  know  little  of  what  took  place  in  that  meet- 
ing. Nor  ought  we  care  to  know.  Domenico  and 
Silvestro  had  both  been  told  that  their  master  had 
denied  the  faith,  and  confessed  to  having  preached 
false  doctrines.  The  moment  they  looked  into  his 
face  they  knew  it  was  all  a  lie.  In  the  early  morn- 
ing they  met  again  to  receive  the  sacrament,  Sa- 
vonarola officiating.  On  raising  the  host  he  de- 


250  GIROI.AMO  SAVONAROLA. 

clared  his  faith  in  the  following  confession:  "O 
Lord,  1  acknowledge  Thee  to  be  the  perfect,  in- 
finite Trinity,  the  three  in  one,  Father,  Son,  and 
Holy  Ghost ;  I  acknowledge  Thee  to  be  the  eternal 
Word;  and  that  Thou  didst  descend  into  Mary's 
womb,  and  didst  mount  the  cross  to  shed  thy  blood 
for  our  sins.  I  pray  Thee  that  by  Thy  blood  I 
may  gain  remission  of  my  sins,  I  implore  Thee  to 
forgive  them;  and  likewise  to  grant  Thy  pardon 
for  every  offense  or  hurt  brought  on  this  city; 
for  every  error  I  may  have  unwittingly  com- 
mitted." He  was  ready  now  for  the  scaffold. 

He  who  has  never  been  in  Florence  on  a  May 
morning  can  have  little  conception  of  its  beauty 
and  glory.  Nature  decked  in  robes  of  royalty, 
fragrant  air,  soft  skies,  gorgeous  sunshine  washing 
domes  and  campaniles,  and  bringing  out  the  beauty 
of  stately  church  and  splendid  palace!  It  was  on 
such  a  morning,  that  the  inhabitants  of  Florence 
gathered  in  the  spacious  square  in  front  of  the 
old  Palace  to  witness  the  burning  of  their  prophet. 
A  raised  scaffold  led  from  near  the  door  of  the 
Palace  to  the  place  of  the  gibbet.  The  fagots  were 
piled  up  for  the  flame. 

From  all  the  streets  the  people  had  gathered. 
The  Piazza,  was  thronged.  The  buildings  on  all 
sides  were  crowded,  every  window  was  filled  with 
living  human  faces.  The  roofs  were  loaded  with 
eager  spectators.  Men  were  crouching  in  the 
cornices  of  the  buildings,  and  hanging  in  the  iron 
torch  rings  of  the  surrounding  walls.  Never  be- 
fore had  been  seen  in  the  Piazza  such  a  multitude ! 
Some  were  there  with  angry  look,  thirsting  only 
for  blood.  Their  mad  yells  were  the  cries  of  wild 


THE  TRAGIC  END.  251 

beasts  or  devils  rather  than  men.  Some  with 
doubtful  expression  on  their  faces  simply  waited 
for  the  end  of  the  tragedy.  Some  were  there  from 
long  vigils;  with  red  eyes  and  haggard  look  they 
trembled  at  the  approach  of  the  fatal  moment! 
Others  calmly  waited  for  some  superhuman  inter- 
vention, some  flash  from  heaven,  which  should 
strike  down  this  mad  conspiracy  and  vindicate 
their  prophet.  The  officials  who  were  to  occupy 
the  tribunals  walked  slowly  to  their  places  of 
responsibility.  The  hour  had  struck,  and  in  all 
the  Piazza  there  was  a  dull  painful  silence. 

There  in  the  door  of  the  Palace  stood  Savon- 
arola. His  two  friends,  Domenico  and  Silvestro, 
were  on  either  side.  Silvestro  had  shown  weak- 
ness in  the  trial,  but  was  calm  now.  Domenico, 
true  hero  and  faithful  friend,  looked  towards  the 
gibbet  with  the  face  of  a  conqueror.  At  the  be- 
ginning of  the  ceremony  Savonarola's  robe  was 
taken  from  him.  "O  sacred  habit,"  he  said  as  they 
took  it,  "how  much  I  desired  thee!  By  the  grace 
of  God  thou  wast  granted  to  me;  and  I  have  pre- 
served thee  unstained  to  this  moment.  Now  I  do 
not  abandon  thee,  but  thou  art  taken  from  me." 
At  the  first  tribunal,  the  bishop,  stumbling  over  the 
formula  he  was  loath  to  pronounce,  said  with  much 
emotion,  "I  separate  thee  from  the  Church  militant 
— and — and — from  the  Church  triumphant."  "From 
the  Church  militant,"  quickly  replied  Savonarola; 
''thou  canst  do  that,  but  thou  hast  no  power  to 
separate  me  from  the  Church  triumphant."  They 
were  led  now  to  the  second  tribunal,  where  stood 
the  papal  commissioners,  and  then  taken  by  the 
officers  to  the  third  tribunal,  to  receive  sentence. 


252  GiROivAMo  SAVONAROLA. 

The  form  of  sentence  pronounced  by  the  Signory 
was  this :  "The  Gonfaloniere  and  the  Eight,  having 
well  considered  the  trials  of  the  three  friars,  and 
the  enormous  crimes  which  they  revealed,  and 
especially  having  considered  the  sentence  of  the 
pope,  which  consigns  them  to  the  secular  tribunal 
for  punishment,  decree  that  each  one  of  the  three 
friars  shall  be  hanged  on  the  cross,  and  then 
burned,  in  order  that  their  souls  may  be  entirely 
separated  from  their  bodies."  The  sentence  pro- 
nounced, there  was  nothing  now  but  to  be  led  to 
the  executioner.  With  calm  face  and  steady  step, 
whispering  the  great  Credo,  Savonarola  walked 
without  flinching  to  the  place  of  death ! 

There  was  but  one  thing  more  for  the  magis- 
trates  of  Florence  to  do,  write  their  dispatches  of 
the  day's  proceedings.  It  was  a  welcome  message 
they  sent  to  Alexander.  Florence  had  done  his 
bidding,  and  was  ready  for  his  congratulations  and 
benediction.  Mariano  was  assured  that  the  re- 
venge he  had  so  long  hoped  for  had  come  at  last, 
the  "parable  monger"  would  trouble  him  no  more. 
The  Arrabbiati  might  open  their  taverns  and  their 
theaters,  and  fill  their  processions  with  the  wildest 
orgies.  No  one  would  now  rebuke  their  mid- 
night revels.  All  who  had  taken  part  in  this  mad 
plot  of  death  might  come  together  for  as  much 
carnival  rioting  as  they  liked.  The  voice  of  the 
preacher  was  still,  and  the  prophet  had  been  for- 
ever silenced. 

It  was  a  sad  business.    Florence  would  bitterly 

.repent  of  it.    "The  martyr's  soul  went  out  in  fire," 

because  an  immoral  pope  wanted  it  so.     And  the 

magistrates   of   Florence   said,   "So   it   shall   be." 


THE  TRAGIC  END.  253 

They  did  not  know  then,  poor  deluded  principals 
in  this  crime ;  they  did  not  know  that  the  day  would 
come  when  men  would  know  their  names  only  as 
they  know  Pilate's  name,  through  the  part  they 
took  in  the  killing  of  an  innocent  man. 

O  Florence!  How  couldst  thou  do  it?  Why 
didst  thou  not  strike  down  his  traducers  and  save 
him?  He  was  a  true  prophet  of  thy  glory  and 
thy  greatness !  Again,  O  Florence !  City  of  Dante 
and  of  Michael  Angelo!  Again!  Again!  How 
couldst  thou  do  it?  Let  a  modern  put  words  into 
the  mouth  of  one  of  thy  noblest  citizens  as  he 
turns  his  face  from  that  tragic  scene  of  death: 

"  Finished  is  thy  kingdom, — weighed  in  the  balance, — 
Weighed  and  found  wanting, — given  to  the  Medes 

and  Persians ! 

Thou  shalt  explore  a  lone,  a  lifeless  gulf; 
Ghosts  of  thy  great  shall  haunt  thee,  and  thy  stones 
Majestically  mock  thy  fallen  pride ; 
Yea,  as  a  king  who  buys  ignoble  peace, 
Crouching,  a  slave,  among  ancestral  vaults, 
So  shalt  thou  be,  O  Florence : — dead  thy  freedom, 
Perished  thy  crafts ;  and  if  there  yet  endure 
One  voice,  one  seeing  eye,  one  plastic  brain, 
The  offspring  of  our  honorable  years, 
Doomed  to  outlive  the  cataclysmal  age, 
Hardly  his  soul  shall  fashion,  hardly  sing, 
Save  but  'mid  pillared  loneliness  to  mourn, 
Crooning  in  stone,  the  swan  song  of  our  Fate ; 
Dawn,  Day  and  Dusk  and  Night  one  vasty  tomb ; 
Dawn  that  saith,  "  Wake  me  not ;"  Day  tired  of  toil ; 
Dusk  glad  because  of  sleep ;  and  Night — ah  night ! 
When  shalt  thou  rise,  my  Italy,  my  land  ? 
Grateful  is  slumber ;  happiest  he,  God  wot, 
Who  sleeps  in  stone  while  shame  atfd  woe  endure  !" 


CHAPTER   XIX. 
INFLUENCE   ON   LATER  TIMES. 

A  FEW  mornings  after  the  tragedy  in  the  Piazza, 
women  were  seen  kneeling  in  prayer  at  the  spot 
where  the  fire  had  burned  .their  prophet.  This  was 
not  the  first  sign  that  the  memory  of  Savonarola 
would  be  honored  in  Florence.  Before  the  sun 
had  set  on  the  day  of  the  burning,  ladies  from  the 
first  families  of  the  city,  disguised  as  servants, 
gathered  ashes  and  charred  pieces  of  wood  from 
the  place  of  the  gibbet  to  preserve  them  as  pre- 
cious mementos  and  sacred  relics. 

On  the  anniversary  of  this  martyrdom,  for 
more  than  two  hundred  years,  that  place  where 
stood  the  gibbet  was  strewn  with  the  whitest  lilies 
and  the  most  fragrant  roses  that  grow  in  the  val- 
ley of  the  Arno.  Ten  years  after  the  cruel  mur- 
der of  Savonarola  in  Florence,  the  great  Raphael 
painted  his  portrait  in  Rome,  and  in  the  very  halls 
of  the  Vatican.  In  thirty  years  Michael  Angelo, 
inspired  by  what  he  heard  in  the  Duomo,  bravely 
built  a  stout  fortress  on  San  Miniato  to  defend  the 
Republic  against  the  combined  powers  of  pope 
and  Caesar,  and  in  tottering  age  this  same  Angelo 
was  wont  to  read  the  sermons  of  the  great  Prior 
of  San  Marco,  and  talk  of  the  life  and  character 
of  the  statesman-preacher.  Strangest  of  all,  Alex- 
ander himself  seemed  to  repent  of  his  participa- 
254 


INFLUENCE  ON  LATER  TIMES.  255 

tion  in  the  bloody  matter,  and  permitted  all  the 
writings  of  Savonarola  to  be  printed,  and  scattered 
broadcast,  without  challenge. 

In  recent  years,  and  mainly  through  men  of 
widely  different  religious  views,  Dominican  monks 
on  the  one  side  and  ardent  Protestants  on  the 
other,  there  has  been  a  remarkable  revival  of  in- 
terest in  Savonarola  and  his  work.  Protestants 
have  pointed  out,  influenced  in  part,  no  doubt,  by 
the  strong  words  of  Martin  Luther",  that  Savon- 
arola deserves  a  place  among  the  great  reformers 
in  the  Protestant  movement  which  had  its  begin- 
ning in  the  fifteenth  century.  They  hold  that 
when  we  speak  of  John  Wyclif  and  his  heroic 
work  in  England  and  of  John  Huss  and  what  he 
did  and  suffered  in  Bohemia,  we  ought  also  to 
speak,  and  very  clearly  and  emphatically,  too,  of 
Girolamo  Savonarola  as  the  man  who  more  than 
any  other,  and  more  than  all  others  combined, 
gave  a  moral  and  a  spiritual  tone  and  character  to 
the  Renaissance. 

Good  Catholics  have  pointed  to  the  fact  that 
Pope  Benedict  XIV  wrote  Savonarola's  name  with 
honorable  mention  in  his  list  of  saints  and  holy 
men,  and  that  many  who  truly  hold  the  Catholic 
faith,  some  of  them  since  canonized,  have  read 
his  writing  with  delight  and  profit.  The  Domin- 
ican monks  have  presented  urgent  petitions  to  the 
Holy  See  praying  that  he  be  made  a  saint.  At 
least  twice  it  has  been  expected  by  some  of  them 
that  their  request  would  be  granted.  It  is  prob- 
ably too  late  now  for  this  to  be  brought  about,  yet  a 
Catholic  historian  has  risen  up  in  England  to  say, 


256  GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA. 

"I  consider  him  the  great  Christian  hero  of  the 
fifteenth  century."  Cardinal  Newman,  though  he 
admired  the  man,  was  of  the  opinion  that  the  work 
of  Savonarola  belonged  to  his  own  time  only.  It 
is  not  so.  The  mighty  preacher  of  Florence  is  ex- 
ercising a  potent  influence  to-day  in  all  the  for- 
ward movements  of  the  Christian  Church.  Cath- 
olics and  Protestants  alike,  in  England  and  Amer- 
ica, are  feeling  the  throb  and  influence  of  his 
mighty  life. 

This  age  in  which  we  live,  then,  bears  abundant 
testimony  to  the  pure  life  and  worthy  work  of  the 
great  Prior  of  San  Marco.  A  little  more  than  a 
generation  ago  the  cry  rang  out  in  our  Northern 
civilization,  "Italy  is  free !  On  both  sides  of  the 
Apennines;  from  Sicily  to  the  Alps;  free  in  her 
schools  and  press,  in  her  Church  and  her  State; 
and  the  Protestant  Bible  is  being  sold  under  the 
shadow  of  the  Vatican!"  Many  now  living  re- 
member what  a  thrill  of  joy  ran  through  the  Prot- 
estantism of  our  country  when  the  wires  brought 
the  message. 

When  the  sons  of  liberty,  in  regenerated  Italy, 
began  building  their  monuments  for  Mazzini  and 
Cavour,  Garibaldi  and  Victor  Immanuel,  they  re- 
membered also  the  earlier  heroes  and  martyrs  of 
Italian  freedom.  Then  it  was  they  formed  the 
marble  and  fashioned  the  bronze,  for  Arnoldo  and 
Bruno,  Dante  and  Galileo,  Michael  Angelo,  and  Sa- 
vonarola. In  Ferrara,  under  the  shadow  of  that 
"grim  quadrangular  building  with  its  four  massive 
towers,"  Galetti  has  raised  the  marble  form  of  the 
preacher  with  arms  extended  to  plead  for  princi- 
ples of  liberty.  In  the  Prior's  cell  in  San  Marco, 


INFLUENCE  ON  LATER  TIMES.  257 

speaking  bronze  and  purest  Carrara  unite  to  pre- 
sent the  face  and  form  of  the  prophet  once  de- 
graded but  now  honored.  And  in  the  Hall  of  the 
Five  Hundred  in  Florence,  the  hall  of  the  Great 
Council,  where  assembled  under  Victor  Immanuel 
the  first  free  parliament  of  united  Italy,  there  now 
stands,  in  heroic  marble,  the  most  conspicuous  fig- 
ure in  that  mighty  hall,  the  statesman-preacher, 
Savonarola.  He  is  still  speaking  to  Florence !  His 
left  hand  rests  on  the  marzocco;  his  right  holds 
aloft  the  old  crucifix,  while  his  eyes  flash  with  im- 
passioned love  of  liberty.  Thus  the  civilization  of 
to-day  honors  its  prophet  of  yesterday.  England 
has  given  him  first  place  in  her  greatest  fiction, 
Germany  has  built  him  into  her  poetry  and  her 
history  and  given  him  honorable  place  by  the  side 
of  her  heroic  Luther,  France  and  Italy  have  con- 
tributed of  their  best  biographers  to  perpetuate  his 
memory  and  his  fame. 

Alexander  and  Mariano  attempted  too  much  in 
Florence.  Libertines  and  tyrants  often  do  that. 
They  thought  they  had  silenced  their  man,  when 
they  burned  him  on  that  May  morning,  and 
dumped  his  ashes  into  the  Arno.  The  Arno  had 
not  borne  its  precious  cargo  to  the  blue  waters  of 
the  Mediterranean  before  those  ashes  were  caught 
up  in  the  mists  which  rose  from  the  valley  of 
beauty,  and  floated  back  to  descend  in  fertilizing 
showers  which  should  prepare  the  soil  of  Italy  and 
Europe  for  a  new  and  better  civilization.  Did  a 
profligate  pope  and  a  scheming  Signory  think  they 
could  silence  such  a  man  as  this?  A  man  whose 
moral  and  spiritual  leadership  had  been  recognized 


SAVONAROLA. 

by  all  Florence  as  the  mightiest  the  'pity  had  ever 
known?  Did  they  think  that?  If  they  did,  let 
their  shades  know  this:  that  Bruneleschi's  dome 
shall  break  in  falling  fragments,  and  Arnolfo's 
palace  of  strength  be  scattered  to  the  winds;  that 
the  Arno  shall  cease  to  run,  and  the  strong  foun- 
dations of  Fiesole  and  San  Miniato  crumble  to  dust, 
before  his  voice — the  mightiest  voice  Florence  ever 
heard — shall  be  still.  That  voice,  speaking  out  for 
purity,  liberty,  and  justice,  will  never  be  silent. 

It  has  been  asked  why  Savonarola  did  not  ac- 
complish what  Martin  Luther  did  in  Germany  and 
John  Knox  in  Scotland?  Luther  and  Knox  would 
have  gone  to  their  death  in  Italy  had  they  at- 
tempted there  their  work  under  Alexander  VI. 
The  time  was  one  of  mortal  combat  between  the 
old  and  the  new,  and  in  it  all  Savonarola  was 
prophet  of  the  new.  This  speaks  volumes  for  the 
clearness  of  his  vision  and  the  greatness  of  his 
personality. 

If  Savonarola  did  not  shake  off  all  the  old,  his 
face  was  ever  towards  the  future  and  his  eye  fixed 
on  reformation.  Had  he  lived  twenty  years  later 
he  would  have  protested  against  the  shameless 
barter  in  indulgences  as  stoutly  as  did  Martin 
Luther.  Whether  his  work  of  reform  would 
have  continued  within  the  mother  Church,  or  in 
separation  from  it,  we  can  not  tell.  It  is  enough 
to  know  that  he  served  well  the  age  in  which  he 
lived.  Preacher  of  purity!  Advocate  of  justice! 
Apostle  of  liberty !  We  shall  not  say  too  much  if 
we  borrow  the  words  of  his  favorite  pupil  Bar- 
tolomeo,  and  call  him  "A  Prophet  of  God." 


INDEX 


PAGE 

ANTONINO 48 

Arrabiati  Faction 180 

BENTIVOGLIO,  Lady in 

Bologna 33 

Borgia,  Roderigo  (Pope  Al- 
exander VI) 105 

Botticelli,  Fresco  by 67 

Brescia 60 

Burning  of  the  Vanities. . . .  199 

CAPPONI,    Piero 141 

Killed  in  battle 195 

Caraffa,  Cardinal 114 

Charles  VIII  of  France  : 

Invades  Italy 136 

Spares  Florence 147 

Alarm  on  his  return 168 

His  departure 171 

Children,   Reform  move- 
ment among 181 

Conspiracy     against    the 

Medici 37 

FERRARA 22 

Dukes  of 23 

Visit  of  Emperor  to 24 

Ficino,  Marsilio 72 

Fiesola,    Giyanni  da  (Fra 

Angelico) 47 

Florence  : 

As  it  was  and  is ",42 

Constitution 153 

Grand  Council  formed. . .  157 

Jesus  King 160 

New  Government 149 

Parlamento 150 

Political  parties 165 

Social  life  transformed. .  .163 
Spirit  of  liberty 158 

Fra  Mariano 50 

His  style  of  speaking 53 

Popularity 54 

Preaches  in  the  cathedral. 91 


PAGB 

GASTON  de  Foix 61 

"  Good  Men  of  St.  Martin  ".49 
Gozzoli,  Benozzo,  Fresco  by. 67 

MEDICI  Family,  The  : 

Cosimo 45, 65 

Founds  the  library  in 

San  Marco, 66 

Founds    the    Platonic 

Academy 67 

Giovanni,  Cardinal  and 

Pope  (Leo  X), 70 

Giuliano,  assassinated. ...38 
I/orenzo,  the  M  a  g  n  i  fi- 

cent... 37,67 

Patron  of  learning  and 

art 43 

Tyranny  of 68 

His  debauchery 71 

Friendly    advances   to 

Savonarola 88 

Reproved  by  him   for 

his   vices 93 

On  his  death  bed 99 

Piero, 67, 101 

Deposed 143 

Plots  to  return 143 

Intrigues  of 195 

Marches  against  Flor- 
ence, and  retreats . . .  206 
Monkish  poverty  and  lux- 
ury  40 

Murder  of  the  Pope's  son, 

Duke  of  Candia 215 

ORDEAL  by   Fire,    sus- 
pended  229 

PAPAL  Corruption  and  ve- 
nality,   16, 34, 104 

Pazzi  Family 37 

Their  conspiracy  against 

Medici 38 

Pico  della  Mirandola 55, 131 

His  death 149 


259 


26o 


INDEX. 


PAGE 
Popes : 

Sixtus  IV 36 

Innocent  VIII 58 

Martin  V 63 

John  XXIII 64 

Leo  X  (Giovanni  de' Me- 
dici)  70 

Alexander  VI  (Roderigo 

Borgia) 105 

Preaching  of  Savonarola, 
and  his  Advent  ser- 
mons   122 

REGGIO 55 

Riario,  a  papal  favorite 36 

SAN  GEMIGNANO 58 

San  Marco 45 

Attacked  by  a  mob 238 

Savonarola,  Girolamo : 

Family  of 19 

Disappointed  in  love 27 

Enters  Monastery 28 

Letter  to  his  father 29 

Appointed  to  preach 41 

First  preaching  in  Flor- 
ence a  failure 50 

Student  of  the  Bible 54 

Personal  characteristics. .  .56 

Moral  force 57 

In  San  Gemignano 59 

Finding  his  true  vocation. 60 
Preaches  in  Brescia  and 

elsewhere 60 

Invited  by   Lorenzo  de' 

Medici  to  Florence  ...73 
Sermons  in  the  Duomo  . .  .73 
His  "Compendium  of 

Revelations  " 80 

God's  prophet 82 

Preaching  before  the 

Signory 84 

Becomes  prior  of   San 

Marco 85 

Character  of  his  preach- 
ing  86,90 

Vision 103 


PAOB 

Savonarola,  Girolamo  : 
Visits  Venice  and  Pisa. .  .no 
Reforms  in  the  monas- 
tery   113 

Plots   circumvented 115 

Advent  Sermons 127 

Interviews  King  Charles 

VIII 144 

Secures  his  departure 

from  Florence 149 

Again  prevails  with  the 

King 170 

Incurs  the  papal  displeas- 
ure   171 

Accused  of  heresy 177 

Correspondence  with  the 

pope 178 

Offered  a  cardinal's  hat.  185 

Published  Sermons 193 

His  attitude  toward  art.. 201 
Efforts  to  crush  him  de- 
feated  207 

Popes    edict   of    excom- 
munication  211 

Letter  to  the  pope 216 

Writes  his  work  "Tri- 
umph of  the  Cross  " .  .217 
Sustained  by  the   Sig- 
nory   221 

Defies  the  pope 222 

The  pope's  wrath 225 

Florence  threatened  with 

an  interdict 225 

Decree  of  the  Signory. . .  .238 
Arrest  and  trial  of  Savon- 
arola   241 

Subjected  to  the  torture.  .245 

Martydom  by  fire 252 

Influence    of  Savonarola 

on  later  times 254 

The  spirit  of  liberty 256 

Sforzai     Ludovico,     of 

Milan 133.  i<>7 

VASARI,  Fresco  by 68 

Venality   of  the   papal 

Court 58,104 


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